News agencies have upped their coverage on the tension between those countries surrounding the South and East China Seas as of late. The rising presence of China appears to be once again thrusting this region into the media spotlight.

In both the New York Times and CNN articles surfaced which pits China and Japan against eachother in a battle over the spattering of "islands" scattered throughout the area. Their attention to atolls, reefs and rocks, which have otherwise gone unnoticed sparks a fascinating discussion on the importance (for the fact that we are now reliant on them) of these small and sensitive landmasses.

The effort being expended in securing the political boundary of island groups like the Paracel's and Spratley's as well as their physical mass is impressive and soon occur on an industrial scale. What new forms of preservation will their future bring? Actions have ranged widely from the "ecological preserve" of the Dongsha Atoll to the titanium and concrete bunker of Okinotori-shima atoll. With the hope of protecting economic rights to a vast underground reserve of oil and natural gas,  we may see the South China Sea emerging as new testing ground for the preservation of this second hand industrial ecology.