Announcement of £75m investment in Okinotori islands could reignite long-running dispute between Tokyo and BeijingAs far as China is concerned,they are mere chunks of uninhabitable rock. But for Japan, these tiny specks in the Pacific, and collectively known as “distant bird island”,serve as a key economic and strategic outpost at a time of growing concern over Chinese military activity in the region.
Japan announced this week it would spend 13bn yen (£75m) to rebuild an observation post on the remote island of Okinotorishima, located approximately 1000 miles south of Tokyo – a move that could reignite a long-running dispute over maritime territory between Tokyo and Beijing.
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Source: theguardian.com