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The islands known as the Senkaku Islands
(尖閣諸島; -Shoto) in Japanese and
Diaoyutai Islands or Diaoyu Islands (钓鱼台列岛; pinyin: Diàoyútái Lièdǎo, spelt 釣魚台列嶼 Diaoyutai Lieyu
in Taiwan) in Chinese are disputed islands administered by Japan but claimed by the People's Republic of China and Taiwan (Republic of China).
Geography
The group is made up of five small volcanic islands:
- Uotsuri-jima(魚釣島) or Diaoyu Dao (釣魚島本島 or 主島): 4.319
km²
- Kobi-sho(久場島) or Huangwei Yu (黃尾嶼 "Yellow Tail"): 1.08 km²
- Taisho-jima(大正島) or Chiwei Yu (赤尾嶼 "Red Tail")
- Kita Kojima or Beixiao Dao (北小島 "Northern Islet")
- Minami Kojima/Minami-ko-shima or Nanxiao Dao (南小島 "Southern Islet")
And three rocks:
- Okino Kitaiwa (沖ノ北岩 "Northern Rocks of the Open Sea") -No Chinese name
- Okino Minamiiwa (沖ノ南岩 "Southern Rocks of the Open Sea") -No Chinese name
- Tobise (飛瀬 "Flying Shoal") -No Chinese name
※Chinese name derived from Japanese name
They are part of the Southwest Islands in Japan. They are 170
km north of Ishigaki Islands, Japan, 170 km northeast of Keelung, Taiwan
and 410 km west of Okinawa
Mainland. The islands sit on the edge of the continental shelf, and are separated from the Ryukyu islands by a deep sea trench.
Political Dispute
Note: China refers to both the People's
Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC) if
unspecified.
The islands are administered by Japan as part of Ishigaki
City , Okinawa prefecture, but claimed by China as part of
Daxi Village (大溪里), Toucheng Township (頭城鎮), Yilan County, Taiwan Province.
Chinese rule or terra nullius
China claims that she had already ruled these islands before Japan controlled them while Japan claims that they were terra nullius.
These islands were on the sea route between Okinawa Mainland and Fujian. Chinese
envoys to the Ryukyu Kingdom and, in far higher frequency, Okinawan
ships passed by them.
China claims that these islands were within Ming's sea-defense area and
belonged to Taiwan. The Chinese claimed that the islands were first mentioned in
literature in 1372. The islands were first documented during the Ming
Dynasty, by royal visitors from Ming China to the Ryukyu Kingdom at
the current Okinawa prefecture of Japan. The documentation mentions, "When crossing the sea, we can saw black [ocean] current underneath. The guide
said, after passing this black current, they will leave the boundary of China. At this stage, we can see a series of islands that
cannot be seen in the return trip." During the Qing Dynasty, when the
ex-Ming Dynasty general Zheng Jing
was defeated, Taiwan and its surrounding islands became under the control of the Qing. The islands were used only as a landmark
for the trip to Ryukyu kingdoms. Some Chinese insist that during the Cixi era, the islands
were presented as a gift to a mandarin "for the purpose of collecting herbs on the islands," but its credibility is
questioned.
Japanese scholars claims that neither China nor Okinawa had recognition of sovereignty over the uninhabited islands so that
Chinese documents only prove that Kumejima, the first inhabited island the Chinese met, belonged to Okinawa. Japanese scholars
show that the History of Ming, the official history book of the Ming Dynasty compiled during the Qing period, classifies
Taiwan and surrounding island to "foreign countries". They also bring official Chinese records about Taiwan or Fujian that never
mention to these islands. Anyway, it is certain that no one effectively controlled them.
Japan's formal incorporation and the Treaty of Shimonoseki
After the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese Government conducted
surveys of the islands from 1885 that confirmed for her that these uninhabited islands had no trace of having been under the
control of China. Thus Japan decided to erect a marker on the islands to formally incorporate them in a Cabinet Decision on 14
January 1895. Among these islands, four islands were borrowed and developed by the Koga family.
Today China does not approve Japan's formal incorporation and claims that it is the Treaty of Shimonoseki on May 17 1895 that separated the islands from China although the treaty
lacks the explicit mention to them. Thus China claims that they should have been "returned" after World War II, under provisions
of the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation, and Article 2 of the San Francisco Treaty. However, in her testimonial in 1920 the ROC admitted that they belonged to the
Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture.
U.S. occupation
After World War II, the islands came under the U.S. occupation as part of Okinawa. The U.S. and the Ryukyu Government under
the U.S. occupation explicitly ruled these island, and the U.S. navy used Kuba-jima and Taisho-jima as maneuver areas. In 1972
the islands were returned from the U.S. to Japan as part of Okinawa.
Japanese scholars point out that it was not so difficult for the ROC to occupy these island in 1945 because she had already
incorporated Taiwan and the surrounding islands two months before the U.S. military occupation extended to Yaeyama Islands. Thus
they claim that this proves her lack of willingness to own the islands. They also bring official Chinese publications that show
the island as part of Okinawa.
Beginning of the dispute
It was not until a survey in 1968 found potential oil fields on the East China Sea that both Chinas claimed sovereignty over
the islands. The ROC claimed them for the first time on June 11, 1971, which was followed by the PRC on December 30.
In 1988, the Japan Youth Association set up a lighthouse on the main island. On July 14, 1996 they built a 5-m high, solar-powered, aluminum lighthouse on another islet. A Hong Kong protester drowned on September 26, trying to swin to Uotsuri-jima . On October 7,
protesters placed the flags of the ROC
and the PRC on the
main island, but they were later removed by the Japanese.
On March 24, 2004, a group of Chinese
activists from the PRC landed on the islands, planning to stay on the islands for 3 days. The seven who landed on the island were
arrested by the Japanese government for illegal entry. The Japanese Foreign Ministry forwarded a complaint to the PRC government,
and the PRC in turn demanded their release. They were then deported from Japan.
The U.S., who once occupied the islands as part of Okinawa, states that the U.S.-Japan Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and
Security is applied to them, although she carefully avoids any involvement in the dispute itself.
See also
External links
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