China, on the other hand, has forcibly demonstrated that it regards the islands as its own, despite Japan's control of them, and has shown that it has the commercial and diplomatic clout to make its point.
In a point of order yesterday, Labour procedure wonk Chris Bryant obtained confirmation that joint committees operate under Lords standing orders, which means that the committee chair will have both a vote in their own right and a casting vote - which could give the government point of view more clout in deciding its conclusions.