If Japan's immediate protest against China for establishing the Air Defense Identification Zone over the East China Sea in late November was a knee-jerk reaction, its approach over the past three weeks (and likely moves in the days ahead) has been one of playing up the China "threat" theory. Japan's moves, needless to say, are a prelude to its diplomacy toward China in 2014.

Not surprisingly, China, although uninvited, topped Japan's agenda of the Dec 13-15 special summit between Japan and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Tokyo. However, the joint statement without mentioning China's ADIZ indicated Japan's "China threat" card didn't play well.

The Japanese cabinet could endorse a draft of its first national security strategy as early as this week, confirming Tokyo's commitment to building a stronger military to counter perceived security threats from China. When the near-final draft was released last week, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe termed it "historic", saying it would form the basis of Japan's defense policies to be devised by the newly established National Security Council.