The Trump administration is possibly facing a “dilemma” as tensions between China and Japan intensify, one Chinese analyst has suggested, while another noted that any breakthrough in the diplomatic dispute still hinged on direct engagement between the two Asian neighbours.

Beijing issued another travel warning targeting Japan on Thursday – less than four weeks after its previous advisory – this time citing Monday’s 7.5-magnitude earthquake off the island nation’s northeastern coast.

Also on Thursday, Tokyo confirmed that its fighter jets had flown over the Sea of Japan, or East Sea, the previous day alongside US nuclear-capable bombers, following a joint patrol by Chinese and Russian aircraft near Japanese airspace.

In a statement, the Japanese defence ministry said: ‘Through this training, Japan and the United States reaffirmed their strong resolve to prevent any unilateral change to the status quo by force, confirmed the readiness of the Self-Defence Forces and the US military and further strengthened the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-US alliance.”

Meanwhile, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Wednesday voiced hope that she would meet her US counterpart again amid Tokyo’s high tensions with Beijing.