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There were reports of possible oil deposits near Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.
Like most territorial disputes over uninhabited islands, both sides have some sort of claims over them. The Chinese usually cite historic records, suggesting the Chinese were first to discover the islands. There were some disputes between Qing Dynasty and Japan over the islands, but soon Japan took over the islands during Sino-Japanese war. Japan ceded all the lands they captured over the years after WWII, but Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands were not handed back to China. Instead US took control of them.
The Japanese case is a little more complicated. Japan gained control of the uninhabited islands at the time of the First Sino-Japanese War. China (Qing government) formally ceded "islands appertaining or belonging to said island of Formosa (Taiwan)" to Japan in its aftermath. So if Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands were part of the islands, then they should be returned to China after WWII. But there is probably no way to make certain. In any case, the islands fell into US control after WWII, which was then handed over to Japan in 1971. Japan controlled them ever since.
The possible oil deposit only makes all sides more interested in claiming the islands.
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