Chinese President Xi Jinping's reaction to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to Yasukuni Shrine will determine whether Asia's top two economies come closer to a hostile incident.
Xi's options after Abe's appearance Thursday at Yasukuni — the first by a sitting prime minister since 2006 — range from sticking with verbal condemnation to unleashing public anti-Japanese protests to stepping up naval or air challenges against Japan's forces in the East China Sea.
Xi and Abe, 15 months apart in age and around one year in to their leadership terms, are overseeing expansions in their militaries, with the two nations locked in a dispute over the Japan-controlled Senkaku Islands, which hinder China's access to the western Pacific and may be surrounded by rich resources.