Noda feared that Ishihara, who was well known for nationalist grandstanding, would try to occupy the islands or find other ways to use them to provoke China.

The response from China was immediate and unambiguous. Wang Guanzhong, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the People s Liberation Army, blasted Hagel and Abe for corroborating and colluding to provoke and challenge China.

Ishihara, who has since resigned from office to launch a new political party, is well known for nationalist provocation, and Noda feared that he would try to occupy the islands or find other ways to use them to provoke China and whip up popular support in Japan.

The fact that the world s most wanted man lived for a half dozen years in a large house within spitting distance of Pakistan Military Academy, where the country trains its officers, has provoked a reaction that Pakistanis should have expected, but did not.