Wall Street Journal wades into dispute

The Wall Street Journal has stirred public opinion in China and Japan with an article making a "rare, direct call" on Washington to take a position in the standoff over China's Diaoyu Islands.

But before making a judgment on whether Washington will give up its overt neutrality over the issue, it is necessary for those supporting the article to have a closer look at Washington's overall considerations, observers said.

The opinion article, in the Journal's Asia edition on Thursday, said "the more explicit" the Obama administration is that the islands are Japanese, "the likelier Beijing is to back down".