Diaoyu Islands dispute about resources not land

The disputes are all over the map. But the long-standing row between Beijing and Tokyo over the Diaoyu Islands is not simply a question of geography and national pride, but a battle for resources, economic benefits and strategic interests.

The battle is also about national status and influence that is not just limited to Asia but affects the global stage, pitching the two most economically and militarily powerful states in the region against each other.

For the United States and its regional allies, the disputes are a case study in containing a rising power; for China, it is also a test run to accomplish its newly declared ambition of becoming a "maritime power", as stated by President Hu Jintao in a keynote policy document at the recent 18th party congress.

The tiny, uninhabited archipelago, know as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, lies between Taiwan and the southern Japanese island of Okinawa and is under Japanese control, which is challenged by Beijing and Taiwan, who accuse the Japanese of occupying it during the 1895 Sino-Japanese war.

"The islands are seen as possessing much more strategic, military and economic value because they are about sea-lane security and they may hold vast stocks of hydrocarbons and fish," said Professor Jin Canrong , a security expert and associate dean of Renmin University's school of international relations.

The dispute might have existed for a long time, but its importance has become clear only in recent decades as both Asian economies share similar constraints on their patterns of development. Both are global manufacturing giants which rely on imports of resources and exports of manufactured goods, for which maritime security is crucial.