Over the past month, tensions have flared between China and Japan following the Japanese coast guard's apprehension of a Chinese fishing ship near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyutai islands. Japan disputes China's right to develop the Chunxiao natural gas field, located in the islands' vicinity, because it claims China will siphon off natural gas resources from within its exclusive economic zone (EEZ), a designation that, under international maritime law, grants special rights over the exploration and use of maritime resources found within 200 nautical miles of a country's coast. China has protested the apprehension loudly, canceling diplomatic and business meetings, arresting four Japanese citizens for taking pictures near a military site in China, and signaling that it could take such economic reprisals as unilaterally developing Chunxiao. China also allegedly threatened to stop exports of rare-earth metals, on which Japan depends for its high-tech manufacturing sector.