Japan's Focus on Chinese Threat: Regional Tensions

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Japan's Self Defense Forces are undertaking a large upgrade to their forces given the rising Chinese threat. Didn't we already see this kind of shit pre-WW2? We did, except back then it was Japan being super big assholes to everyone and taking their land and committing war crimes...this time, the tables are turned.As we all know, China has been increasing its military presence in the South China Sea and contesting the claim that much of (if not all) of the Strait of Taiwan is international water. China believes the strait and the island of Taiwan to be theirs along with most of the South China Sea. This obviously causes concern as a great deal of shipping passes through the South China Sea (roughly 3 trillion per year) and the Chinese government sure would like to control that, wouldn't they? Snag a little piece of the pie for themselves...So it's no surprise and it's actually great news for the United States that Japan is starting to beef up their defense forces. Why? Well, we can all safely bet that east Asia will be an area of armed conflict before too long and having a strong ally in the region would be just you know...really f***in great for the United States.So what is it the Japanese are doing? Upgrading their warships to carry the new F-35 is one step, but that one obvious step shows a direct focus on the emerging threat that China poses to stability in the region. It's only really one step, which isn't much unless you consider the big picture, one does not simply upgrade warships in a specific way on a whim. This upgrade shows China that Japan will be a staunch ally and maybe the biggest aircraft carrier for America, should war break out.Meanwhile, we're just sitting here hoping China tries to pull off a Bay of Pigs-style invasion so we can get a CONUS kill...only half joking.We look forward to seeing what other upgrades and steps Japan takes to quell the rising militaristic Chinese empire. If you don't think it's an empire, just look at what they're doing in Africa, South America, and what they want to do to Taiwan, then tell us they aren't in the process of building an empire.P.S. China has warned Japan against putting F-35's on their Izumo class carriers...so there's also that.