After an international court issued a stinging rebuke of Beijing's expansive claims in the South China Sea on Tuesday, the next flash point to emerge could be a bit closer to home — but just a bit.
About 1,740 km south of Tokyo sits a collection of tiny specks known as Okinotorishima. Controlled by Japan but also claimed by Taiwan, the atoll where just two small outcrops jut out at high tide is seen by Tokyo as an economic and strategic outpost in a volatile region.
The only hitch? Critics say it is effectively a man-made islet, similar to the dredged Chinese features the court dismissed as mere "rocks," since it cannot support human life and could even disappear under the waves in a strong typhoon.