Japan vs China: Heavy-weight bout in the making?

I don't claim to be an expert on Asia ... but I read alot. You Asia experts, does this make sense?

1) We know that China, more that most countries, plans its policy in long time spans.
2) Recent (20 + years) economic growth has taxed its resources (i.e., cement and steel demand is affecting the rest of the world).
3) As the Chinese population becomes more affluent, demand for other resources, like petroleum, is sure to rise
4) China has begun to develop natural gas resources in the East China Sea's Chunxiao field, an area claimed by both China and Japan
5) This unilateral move by the Chinese coincides with "spontaneous" outrage over Japanese text books.

C'mon boys and girls, inscrutable this is not!

1) I doubt that Chinese citizens read many Japanese text books
2) I doubt that "spontaneous" demonstrations of any kind are the first thought of even those Chinese that DO read Japanese texts (Remember Tiananmen Square?)

Is Tom DeLay taking a page from Chinese texts when he attacks federal judges to distract the media/public from his ethics or are the Chinese learning from him?

I certainly hope the Chinese government is smarter than to emulate Tom Delay!