Okinotori: An Odd Place for a Maritime Dispute | Stratfor
▻https://www.stratfor.com/analysis/okinotori-odd-place-maritime-dispute
▻https://www.stratfor.com/sites/default/files/styles/stratfor_full/public/main/images/okinotori-atoll+%281%29.jpg?itok=_EriM_of
Resource-poor Japan sees that Okinotori has crucial economic and strategic value if it is deemed an EEZ, but this will depend on whether the bodies can be considered islands. Since 1987, Japan has invested over $600 million to protect the atoll from further erosion, encasing its remaining rock outcroppings in 82 feet of concrete. Slits are cut into the barriers to allow seawater through to meet the technical definition of an island set by international law: “naturally formed area[s] of land, surrounded by water, which [are] above water at high tide.” In addition, the smaller of the two islands is covered with a net of titanium. While $600 million may seem excessive, Tokyo considers the potential payoff well worth it.
