The United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) Survey and the origins of the East China Sea Islands dispute

This chapter examines the growth of the geological and economic interest in the East China Sea, particularly the area around the Senkaku Islands in the 1960s and early 1970s. Specifically, it introduces an international study published in 1969 by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE1) and the race for mining and oil concessions that report produced. It also discusses the tensions that developed between Japan and the Republic of China (ROC), as well as Okinawa and the ROC, and even looks at the frictions that emerged between Okinawa and Japan itself over the question of local prosperity versus national needs.