Turf Wars

• Share

It's hard to imagine getting overheated about a chain of uninhabited rocks in the East China Sea. But a Japanese activist last week crashed a bus through the gates of the Chinese consulate in Osaka, livid about the mainland's claim of sovereignty over the DIAOYU ISLANDS. The Diaoyus—known in Japan as the Senkakus—have been under Japanese control for more than a century, but feuds still rage over who owns them. In March, Chinese nationalists planted a flag on Diaoyu soil; their subsequent arrest by the Japanese navy led to furious demonstrations in Beijing, with Chinese protesters burning Japanese flags. Intensifying the furor, Taiwan two weeks ago said that it's adding the Diaoyus to official maps of its own territory. And the Diaoyus aren't the only islands of dubious value to excite territorial passions. Everyone, it seems, wants a piece of these rocks.

THE SPRATLY ISLANDS
Brunei, China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all lay claim to some or all of these reefs and islets. In 1988, the dispute sparked a naval battle between China and Vietnam, in which more than 70 sailors died. In subtler declarations of ownership, Vietnam last week launched a holiday cruise to the barren archipelago, and Taiwan in late March marked its territory by erecting a bird-watching shack on one of the islands. At least there's a sensible money-grubbing reason for some of this squabbling: the Spratlys sit athwart vital shipping lanes, fishing grounds and potentially vast oil and natural-gas fields.

HANS ISLAND
Denmark and Canada exchanged words in March over this 1.3-square-kilometer scrap of Arctic wasteland between Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland. Both sides are playing down the dispute, but Hans could be the tip of the iceberg: Canada will launch operation Narwhal, its largest-ever war games in the Arctic, this August as part of a long-term plan to reassert its sovereignty in the north.

TUZLA ISLAND
Russia and Ukraine nearly came to blows late last year over this strategically placed islet, which guards the only shipping lane from the landlocked Azov Sea to the Black Sea. Tensions eased last week with the ratification of an accord to share the Azov's waterways—but Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says the fate of Tuzla itself has yet to be decided.

PEREJIL ISLAND
Six Moroccan soldiers stormed this largely forgotten Spanish possession 200 meters off the African coast in July 2002, adding to long-simmering tension between Madrid and Rabat. But the dispute lost its sense of urgency after the Madrid train bombings. In his traditional first overseas trip, Spain's new Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, went to Morocco on Saturday to strengthen bilateral ties and encourage cooperation in the war on terror.