Recently obtained documents confirm suspicions that Chinese President Xi Jinping himself is personally involved in ordering the military operations agitating Japan in the East China Sea.

China's surging military activity in the East China Sea has caused deep anxiety for Japan, which administers the Senkaku Islands. The uninhabited isles near Taiwan are also claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu, and Taiwan, which calls them Tiaoyutai.

According to the documents, recently obtained by Kyodo News, during a closed-door meeting with members of the Central Military Commission, which is in overall charge of the People's Liberation Army, on Feb. 20 this year, Xi, supreme commander of the world's largest military, said "some countries have conducted frequent maritime drills in the area seeking to provoke and pressure us."