A policeman stands guard at an entrance to the Chinese Embassy in Tokyo on March 25. A man was apprehended in Tokyo March 24 after he trespassed onto the grounds of the embassy. | AFP-JIJI

Japan lodged a protest with Beijing last month over the installation of structures in the East China Sea, marking the latest in a series of incidents between the two Asian rivals.

Tension has been running high between Japan and China since Beijing reacted to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks over Taiwan in parliament last November that culminated in a Chinese fighter locking its radar on a Japanese F-15 in the waters off Okinawa the following month.

While the two governments have so far avoided acute escalation this year, tensions continue to simmer as they compete with isolated incidents and incompatible policies.…