China deployed five warships, among them a guided-missile Destroyer, in early September, close to a disputed gas-field in the East China Sea, the International Herald Tribune reported. The ships were spotted near Chunxiao oilfield by a Japanese military plane, two days before Japan's national election and just a few weeks before China plans to extract gas from the area despite Japanese opposition. The East China Sea has been a regular forum for military bravado between the two powers in recent years, as ownership of untapped resources, and even of several islands, continues to be contested.
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