Japan is aggravating tensions with China over South China Sea issues to promote its own interests, according to experts who analyzed recent comments by Japan's new Defense Minister Tomomi Inada. On Thursday, Inada said that Tokyo is eying more patrols with the US and joint drills with regional navies.

Inada, speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a Washington, DC-based think tank, said Japan's increased engagement in the area would include capacity building for coastal nations, Reuters reported.

She also said she supports "the US Navy's freedom-of-navigation operations, which go a long way to upholding the rules-based international maritime order".