It was completely predictable--and surely predicted--that “nationalization” of the Senkaku/Diaoyu islands would become a self-fulfilling prophesy of a “China threat” to Japan. This self-made “threat” has been critically important in providing the justification for Abe’s government’s pushing through his program to upgrade Japan’s national security command and to restructure its military to be more be independently capable of offensive, as well as more broadly defensive, operations.