China is revealing a show of confidence as it deals with a territorial dispute involving a group of islands known as Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China.

The country’s hard-line responses to Japan’s claims of ownership may be lined with the confidence that its national power overtakes Japan as the world’s second-largest economy.

The average Japanese person is much richer than the average Chinese person, but various economic indicators show that China overwhelming outperforms Japan.

By Park Min-young (claire@heraldcorp.com)