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The Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島, Senkaku Shotō)is the japanese name for a group of uninhibited islands. It is claimed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (Taiwan), and by Japan. In Chinese, the islands are known as the Diaoyutai Islands (钓鱼台群岛|Diàoyútái Qúndǎo). They are also known as the "Pinnacle Islands", a name given by British navigators, which is also the probable source for the Japanese name. The Chinese name literally means "Angling Platform Islands" or "Angling Islands". Their status has emerged as a major issue in Sino-Japanese relations.

Geography

• Total island area: 7 km²
• Population: 0
• Geographic coordinates: 25°58' - 25°41'45" N, 123°27'45" - 124°41'30" E

The group is made up of five small volcanic islands:

• Uotsuri-jima (魚釣島)⊕ or Diaoyu Dao (釣魚島本島 "Fishing Island" or 主島): area 4.319 km², highest elevation 383 m
• Kuba-jima (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")※: highest elevation 135 m
• Minami Kojima or Nanxiao Dao (南小島 "Southern Islet")※: highest elevation 149 m

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

(The People's Republic of China refused to name what they considered, "a bunch of pointless rocks out in the ocean.") 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

Island]], Japan; 170 km northeast of Keelung, Taiwan; and 410 km west of Okinawa Island. The PRC claims that the islands sit on the

edge of the continental shelf of mainland Asia, and are separated from the Ryukyu Islands by a sea trench, while Japan considers that the

continental shelf stretches to the much deeper Nansei-shoto Trench, east to the Southwest Islands and that the islands and the Ryukyu

Islands are on the same continental shelf.

Territorial dispute

Note: China refers to both the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China on Taiwan (ROC), if unspecified.

The islands are in dispute. Administration of the islands were transfered by the US to Japan in the San Fransico Treaty as a part of [[Ishigaki,

Okinawa|Ishigaki City]], Okinawa prefecture dispite earlier international treaties specifically limiting Japan's territories to

its five main islands. It's claim is contested by China as a part of Taiwan province (Daxi Village (大溪里), Toucheng Township, Yilan County,

Taiwan Province).

Chinese claims

Ming Dynasty claim

China claims that the islands were within the Ming Dynasty's sea-defense area and are a part of Taiwan. According to the Chinese, the

islands were first mentioned in literature in 1372 and were first documented by royal visitors travelling from China to the Ryukyu Kingdom,

located in what is now Japan's Okinawa prefecture. Their documentation states: "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 on the return trip."

Qing Dynasty claim

From 1624 until 1662, Taiwan and its surrounding islands were controlled by the Dutch as a base for commerce. In 1662, the Dutch were

driven out by ex-Ming Dynasty general Zheng Chenggong (more popularly known as Koxinga). Zheng Chenggong and his successors

established the Kingdom of Tungning and the area until 1683. That year, Zheng's grandson Zheng Ke-Shuang was defeated by [[Qing

Dynasty]] forces led by Admiral Shi Lang. From then on, Qing Dynasty China gained effective control over Taiwan and its surrounding islands,

including the islands in dispute today.

Treaty of Shimonoseki and the Receding of Chinese territories

After losing the First Sino-Japanese War, China signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki on 17 April, 1895. This [[Unequal

Treaties|unequal treaty]] ceded Taiwan and its surrounding islands to Japan, although without explicitly mentioning the islands in dispute today.

China's current claim is that the islands should have been returned to Chinese sovereignty 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.

Tokyo court ruling

China also asserted that in 1944, the Tokyo court ruled that the islands were part of Taihoku Prefecture (Taipei Prefecture), following a

dispute between Okinawa Prefecture and Taihoku Prefecture. However, the assertion was solely based on a "claim" by the president of the

fishermen's association of Keelung city in 4 August, 1971. The primary source of this paragraph can be found in the journal "Modern

China Studies", Issue 1, 1997 (in Simplified Chinese). [neutrality

questionable].

Japanese claims

Formal incorporation

Japan claims that after the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government conducted surveys of the islands beginning in 1885 confirming no

evidence that the uninhabited islands had been under Chinese control (though this conflicts with the earlier Chinese claim of the islands during

the Qing dynasty). At the time of this survey, Japan did not formally declare a claim to the islands. Instead, it waited until 14 January,

1895, during the middle of the First Sino-Japanese War, to do this. Just three months prior to its military victory in the war and the

signing of the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Japan erected a marker on the islands to formally incorporate them as its territory. This decision was

not made public until 1950, however. Four of the islands were

subsequently borrowed and developed by the Koga family with the permission of the Japanese government.

"History of Ming"

Japanese scholars claim that neither China nor Okinawa had recognized sovereignty over the uninhabited islands. Therefore, they claim that

Chinese documents only prove that Kumejima, the first inhabited island reached by the Chinese, belonged to Okinawa. Prof. Emeritus Kentaro

Ashida (芦田健太郎) of Kobe University points out that the official history book of the Ming Dynasty compiled during the Qing Dynasty, called the

"History of Ming" (明史), describes Taiwan in the "Stories of Foreign Countries" (外国列伝). Thus, China did not control the Senkaku Islands or

Taiwan. However, this point has been argued as irrelevant by the Chinese because the

Qing Dynasty gained control of Taiwan and its surrounding islands in 1683, which was 39 years after the fall of the Ming Dynasty.

Beiyang warlord admission

In a testimonial in 1920, a diplomat from the Chinese Beiyang warlord government admitted that the islands belonged to the Yaeyama District

of Okinawa prefecture. Taiwan and its surrounding islands were ceded to Japan in 1895 in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. However, China argues

that Taiwan and its surrounding islands were returned to Chinese sovereignty after the World War II in

1945.Cairo Communiqué

United States occupation

Japan claims that after World War II, the islands came under the United States occupation of Okinawa. During this period, the United States

and the Ryukyu Government administered the islands and the US Navy even used Kuba-jima and Taisho-jima as maneuver areas. In 1972,

sovereignty over Okinawa, and arguably the surrounding islands, was handed back to Japan.

Japanese scholars point out that it would not have been difficult for the Republic of China (ROC) to occupy these islands in 1945, because the

ROC had already incorporated Taiwan and the surrounding islands two months before the US military occupation was extended to the Yaeyama

Islands. Thus, they claim that this proves the ROC's lack of willingness to assume authority over the islands. They also point to official Chinese

publications that show the islands as part of Okinawa.

Taiwanese scholars reject Japan's claim, pointing out that the ROC government maintains sovereignty over the islands. When US 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 US military applied each time to the ROC government, instead of to Japanese authorities, for authorization.

According to Taiwanese sources, the 1954 ROC-US Mutual Defense Treaty contains wording implying that the ROC controlled the islands. The

ROC government and the US later agreed to have US forces patrol the area several miles north of the island of Taiwan. Thus, the ROC had

agreed to have US forces patrol the area around the islands.

Beginning of the dispute

A survey in 1968 found potential oil fields in the East China Sea, drawing attention to the islands. The PRC and ROC governments subsequently

pressed their claims of sovereignty over them. The ROC officially claimed the islands for the first time on 11 June, 1971, followed by

the PRC on 30 December. Japan responded by counter-claiming (and, arguably, controlling) the islands.

Recent developments

• 1988: The Japan Youth Association set up a lighthouse on the main island.
• July 14, 1996: The Japan Youth Association builds a 5-m high, solar-powered, aluminum lighthouse on another island.
• September 26, 1996: David Chan (陳毓祥), a Hong Kong protester, drowns while trying to swim to the main island with several

companions.

• October 7, 1996: Protesters plant the flags of the ROC and the [[flag of the People's Republic of

China|PRC]] on the main island, but they were later removed by the Japanese authorities.

• April 2002: The Japanese government leased Uotsuri and other islands from the private owners.
• March 24, 2004: A group of Chinese activists from the PRC planned to stay on the Islands for three days. The seven people who landed

on the islands were arrested by Japanese authorities for illegal entry. The Japanese Foreign Ministry forwarded a complaint to the PRC

government, but the PRC in turn demanded the release of the activists. They were then sent to Japan and deported from there. Japan

subsequently banned anybody from landing on the islands without prior permission.

• February 2005: Japan planned to take ownership of a privately-owned lighthouse on Uotsuri, after it was offered to them by the owner,

a fisherman living on Ishigaki, Okinawa. The lighthouse is expected to be managed by the Japanese Coast Guard.

• June 2005: The ROC dispatched a ROCN frigate into disputed waters (but did not go as far as the islands)

after Taiwanese fishing vessels were harassed by Japanese patrol boats. The frigate, which was carrying Legislative Yuan President [[Wang

Jin-pyng]] and ROC Defense Minister Lee Jye, was not challenged and returned to Taiwan without incident. Fisheries talks between Taipei and

Tokyo were held in July, but did not cover sovereignty issues.

See also

• Sino-Japanese relations
• China Federation for Defending the Diaoyu Islands
• History of Taiwan
• Koxinga
• Okinotori
• Zheng Ke-Shuang

External links

• [http://www.cfau.edu.cn/jiaoxue/english/courses/diaoyudao%20translation.doc Diaoyu Islands-China's Indisputable Territory.Foreign Affairs

University]

• Basic View on Senkaku (by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs)
• Article by Professor Koji Taira
• Article by Kiyoshi Inoue Professor of History department Kyoto University
• Senkaku @BBC
• Article by globalsecurity.org (with some maps)
• Potsdam Conference by cnn.com
• Law School Article by William Heflin
• Article "China's Diaoyu Islands Sovereignty is Undeniable" at

People's Daily Online

• Disputed territories
• Disputed waters
• Islands of Japan