China holds aces in island spat with Japan

Japan's increased dependence on China for export sales gives Beijing the upper hand in a territorial dispute that triggered street protests and forced Chinese units of Japanese companies to close plants.

The chart of the week compares Japan's exports to China, the European Union and the United States in billions of yen, showing sales to China more than doubling between 2002 and 2011 as it became the No1 market. Exports to the US dropped by almost one third and EU demand changed little. China took Japan's spot as the second-largest economy in 2010, in dollar terms.

via Business feed http://www.scmp.com/business/economy/article/1054681/china-holds-aces-island-spat-japan