China and Japan have ended a diplomatic conflict over a boat collision near disputed islands known in Japan as Senkaku and in China as Diaoyu in the East China Sea. China seemed to be the winner in this dispute as Japan released the skipper of a Chinese fishing vessel that collided with Japanese coast guard patrol boats on Sept. 7.

It is fortunate that the two countries have avoided further collision in their bilateral relationship. But this does not mean that the row over the territory is over between these two Asian giants. This territory dispute is just a minimal part of confrontation on hegemony within China and Japan in East Asia.

What¡¯s worrisome is that a recurrence of such an incident could not only undermine the Sino-Japanese relationship but also pose a threat to peace and stability in East Asia.

China has constantly criticized the U.S. for pursuing Pax Americana. But, China is now under attack for Pax Sinica. China has emerged as the world¡¯s second-largest economy, edging out Japan. Due to their increased economic influence in the world and modernization of its military power, Chinese are more assertive in protecting their national interests.

Rather than negotiating with Japan to solve the recent conflict, China declared to stop exporting rare earth element to Japan and banned its people from traveling to Japan in an obvious stronger action. China is currently dominating the rare earth element market by producing 97 percent of total output. Rare earth element is a critical resource for high technology products. China¡¯s economic power forced Japan to give up their political stance.

China has become Japan¡¯s biggest trading partner since 2009. So Japan feels a lot of pressure from the rise of China both economically and politically.

It is not desirable for China and Japan to fight for regional and global hegemony in order to maintain peace and stability in Asia and the world as well. However, their conflict will continue and won¡¯t end easily. So Korea needs to pay more attention to the conflict between the two countries and think about measures on how to position itself properly for national interest.