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The Senkaku Islands (Japanese: 尖閣諸島; Senkaku-Shotō) are islands are currently under Japanese control but claimed by the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan), by which they are known as the Diaoyu Islands or Diaoyutai Islands (Simplified Chinese: 钓鱼台列岛, Hanyu Pinyin: Diàoyútái Lièdǎo) and Tiaoyu Tai or Tiaoyutai Islands (Traditional Chinese: 釣魚台列嶼, Tiaoyutai Lieyu). They are also known as the Pinnacle Islands, named by the British navigators, and the probable source of the Japanese name. Though these islands are too small to be pictured on most maps, their status have emerged as a major issue in Sino-Japanese relations.
Geography
The group is made up of five small volcanic islands:
And three rocks:
⊕Japanese name literally derived from the Chinese name ※Chinese name derived from the Japanese name In Japan, the islands are considered part of the Southwest Islands. They are 170 km north of Ishigaki Islands, Japan; 170 km northeast of Keelung, Taiwan; and 410 km west of Okinawa Island. The islands sit on the edge of the continental shelf of mainland Asia, and are separated from the Ryukyu Islands by a deep sea trench. Political DisputeNote: China refers to both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC) if unspecified. The Islands are currently controlled 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 nulliusChina claims that she had already ruled the islands before Japan controlled them, while Japan claims that they were terra nullius. The 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 the 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 could see 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 suggest 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 (明史), the official history book of the Ming Dynasty compiled during the Qing period, classifies Taiwan and surrounding islands as "foreign countries". They also point to other official Chinese records about Taiwan or Fujian that never mention these islands. In their view, it is certain that no one effectively controlled them. Japan's formal incorporation and the Treaty of ShimonosekiJapan claims that 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 April 17, 1895, in which China ceded Taiwan to Japan, also ceded the islands, although the treaty lacks an explicit mention of them. Thus China claims that they should have been returned together with Taiwan after World War II, under provisions of the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Declaration, and Article 2 of the San Francisco Treaty and the Treaty of Taipei. In a testimonial in 1920 a diplomat from the Chinese Beiyang warlord government once admitted that the islands belonged to the Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture. An important basis for the Chinese claim comes from a 1944 court ruling in Japan. In that year, the Tokyo court ruled that the islands are part of Taihoku Prefecture (Taipei Prefecture), following a dispute between Okinawa Prefecture and Taihoku Prefecture. The contents of the San Francisco Treaty itself regarding Taiwan (and by extension, the disputed islands) are sometimes disputed. U.S. occupationJapan claims that 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 the 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 these islands. They also bring official Chinese publications that show these islands as part of Okinawa. Scholars from Taiwan reject Japan's claim, pointing out that the ROC government does possess sovereignty over the Islands. When U.S. forces were stationed on Taiwan during the Cold War, military maneuvers were periodically held which required the use of the Islands as an aerial bombing target. The U.S. military applied each time to the ROC government, instead of the Japanese authority, for authorization. According to Taiwanese sources, the 1954 ROC-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty contains wording implying that the ROC did control the Islands. The ROC government and the U.S. later agreed to place under the U.S. forces' patrol the area some miles north of the Taiwan island, meaning that the ROC had agreed to U.S. forces patrolling the area around the Islands. In 1955, ROC troops, while retreating from Tachen Island, were garrisoned on the main island(Diaoyudao). Approaching Japanese ships would be fired upon to drive them away. Beginning of the disputeA survey in 1968 found potential oil fields on the East China Sea, bringing attention to these islands. The Beijing and Taipei governments subsequently pressed their claims of sovereignty over these islands. The ROC claimed them for the first time on June 11, 1971, which was followed by the PRC on December 30. Recent Developments
Public Opinion & Official Positions
See alsoExternal links
ja:尖閣諸島 zh-cn:钓鱼台列岛 zh-tw:釣魚臺列嶼
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