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The Senkaku Islands dispute concerns a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and as the Diaoyu (in China) or Tiaoyutai Islands (in Taiwan). The islands were administered by the U.S. after World War II until 1972 and handed over to Japan in 1972, but this handover was an outrage to The People's Republic of China. Taiwan also claims ownership of these islands as well. The territory is close to key shipping lanes, rich fishing grounds, and there may be oil reserves in the area.

 Many current grievances among these three countries predate current names and map boundaries. Sometimes these disputes are acerbated by the discovery of exploitable natural resources, and in this energy hungry world, every possible source must be claimed and exploited. These islands are perfectly situated in just such an area, including having centuries -old rivalries thrown in for good measure.

In the latest round of posturing for these islands in the East China Sea, Japanese coast guard ships fired water cannons to push back Taiwanese vessels Tuesday, as the main contenders, China and Japan, met in an effort to tamp down tensions.

About 40 Taiwanese fishing boats and 12 patrol boats entered waters near the islands on Tuesday morning, briefly triggering an exchange of water cannon fire with Japanese coast guard ships who said the Taiwanese vessels ignored warnings to get out of their territory.

Although the islands have been administered by Japan for the past few decades, ownership of these islands have been in dispute for much longer. Japan thought that their purchase of the islands two weeks ago would put the dispute to rest, but China and Taiwan assert that documentary evidence prior to the First Sino-Japanese War indicates Chinese possession and that the territory is accordingly a Japanese seizure that should be returned as the rest of World War II Empire of Japan's conquests were returned in 1945.

Chinese boats have also briefly entered the waters around the islands in recent weeks, but Japanese coast guard vessels didn't fire water cannon at them. A coast guard official said Chinese vessels usually exit the Japanese waters more quickly after verbal warnings, without forcing Japanese patrol ships to take physical action.

About 10 Chinese vessels are still lingering just outside the Japanese waters off the islands, although the fleet size has decreased over the last few days, Japanese coast guard officials said.

"Both sides hope to see the escalation in tensions ease up because confrontation does no good to either, but so far we haven't seen any room for compromise," Liang Yunxiang, a Japan expert at Peking University, said Tuesday.

To date, Japanese and Chinese vessels have not fired at each other. It is interesting to note that although the United States does not have an official position on the merits of the competing sovereignty claims, the islands are included within a security treaty in effect between the US and Japan which could compel the US to support Japan militarily in defense of the islands by Japan.

Let's just hope that any support or open fighting for these islands remains limited to water cannons and any troops will only be armed with Super Soakers and water balloons.