Tensions have again flared among the three nations that assert sovereignty over the potentially oil rich Senkaku Archipelago in the East China Sea.
Lying about 95 miles southwest of Japan and 120 miles northeast of Taiwan, the eight tiny atolls are also claimed by China.
The dispute over which nation owns the Senkakus has simmered for many years, generally without overt hostility.
But Japanese patrol vessels recently prevented a group of Taiwanese officials from landing on the islands, and Beijing immediately warned Japan not to violate Chinese sovereign rights in the area.
A 1969 survey reportedly convinced Japanese authorities that there are 15 billion metric tons of subsea oil in the Senkaku vicinity. A Chinese article quoted by the Joint Economic Committee of the U.S. Congress said, "The offshore sedimentary basins lying on the continental shelves between the Senkaku Islands and the China mainland are considered to be most favorable for oil prospecting and exploitation."
China has found commercial volumes of oil and gas in the East China Sea. And Beijing has undertaken geophysical surveys and obtained stratigraphic data in the Senkaku area.
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