Japan is escalating tensions between itself and China and has set the countries' relations on a worse path.

The Japanese government struck a deal on Wednesday with the "owner" of China's Diaoyu Islands, agreeing to pay 2.05 billion yen ($26 million) for them.

China needs to take up the gauntlet with the use of workable countermeasures. Our protests - be they official or civil - have fallen on deaf ears in the Japanese government. Japan has been slowly trying to bring China's territory in the East China Sea under its wing.

The deal for the islands was signed just five days after a letter from Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda to President Hu Jintao was delivered in Beijing on August 31. Noda was then said to have talked about lowering tensions between the two countries.

The Noda administration now lacks credibility.

The Japanese government is trying to justify its attempted nationalization of the Diaoyu Islands by saying it wants to maintain and manage them "in a peaceful and stable manner".

But the islets are not part of Japan's territory and such a nationalization plan can therefore not proceed peacefully.

When Japan throws down the gauntlet before China, it should pay dearly for that act. The country should be informed of the serious consequences of its behavior.

Since Japan insists on infringing on our territory, Chinese patrol boats should cruise the waters near the islets constantly.

When a Chinese trawler was detained by Japan in 2010, China postponed negotiating with Japan about the countries' common understandings concerning the East China Sea.

It is high time that China took substantial steps to defend its Diaoyu Islands.

As China has kept its word over the past four decades to seek common ground on the Diaoyu Islands issue, peace is our obvious goal.

But Japan no longer shares it. This only dispels our illusion that we will be able to put the Diaoyu Islands dispute on the shelf for later generations to resolve.

We have failed to understand Japan's diplomatic strategy. We mistook the country's attempts to acquire the Diaoyu Islands as being a part of some farce put on by right-wing politicians.

China should rethink its strategy on this issue. It's a situation that may call for a blend of delicacy and action.

(China Daily 09/06/2012 page8)