It News: A look at Pacific island disputes

August 20, 2012

A look at Pacific island disputes

August 20, 2012

FILE - In this Aug. 19, 2012 file photo, Japanese activists hold the national flags on Uotsuri island, one of the islands of Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, in East China Sea. An unauthorized landing by Japanese activists on an island at the center of a dispute with China is sparking nationalist outrage and fueling calls on both sides for aggressive government action that some fear could lead to an escalation of tensions. Japanese authorities on Monday, Aug. 20, 2012, questioned the 10 Japanese, including five local assembly members, who swam ashore on the disputed island the day before. (AP Photo/Kyodo News, File) JAPAN OUT, MANDATORY CREDIT, NO LICENSING IN CHINA, HONG KONG, JAPAN, SOUTH KOREA AND FRANCE

The Pacific Ocean is peppered with hundreds of islands — most small and uninhabited — that are claimed by more than one country. Here's a look at some of the main territorial disputes that are causing tensions among Asian nations.

— Senkaku, or Diaoyu, Islands. Located in the East China Sea near Taiwan and the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, these remote uninhabited isles have been under Japanese control since 1895. They are seen as important because of their strategic location, and are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and may be near underwater resources such as natural gas. China claims it discovered them in the 14th century.
Claimed by Japan, China and Taiwan.

— Dokto, or Takeshima. Administered by South Korea since the 1950s, these outcroppings in the Sea of Japan, called the East Sea in Korea, are inhabited only by a contingent of South Korean police. Claimed by South Korea and Japan.

— Kuril Islands. Located off the Russian Far East and Japan's northernmost main island, the southern Kurils were occupied by the Soviets in the closing days of World War II, and Japan before that. Four of the Russian-controlled islands, which have small military and civilian populations, are in dispute and have kept Japan and Russia from signing a formal treaty ending their wartime hostilities. They are a base for fishing operations and a rich source of crab. Claimed by Russia and Japan.

— Islands in the South China Sea. Hundreds of islets and reefs are disputed in the South China Sea. About halfway between China and Vietnam are the Paracels — called Xisha in Chinese and Hoang Sa in Vietnamese — which are claimed by both countries and Taiwan. China and Vietnam had a conflict over them in the 1970s, and China has controlled them since then. Another flashpoint in the South China Sea is the Spratly Islands, comprised of hundreds of coral reefs, islets and atolls claimed entirely or in part by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and the Philippines.