"The husk of a dead volcano protruding from the East China Sea has become the battleground between the two mightiest economies in Asia. At stake are potentially lucrative gas drilling rights in waters claimed by China and Japan. But the outcome of the territorial dispute may hinge on the medicinal herbs of a Chinese empress, the collection of bird excrement by the Japanese and the definition of what really makes an "island."...The dispute boils down to where lines can be drawn in the ocean for commercial use. International law allows for a nation to claim exclusive economic rights to fish, oil and mineral reserves up to 200 nautical miles from the shore. " - Lit