: 

The Loom of Dispute between Two Asian Giants Sparking

Concern on SENKAKU Islands (Japan),

Diaoyu Islands (China)

Prepared by Raizza Corpuz

SENKAKU Islands Japan, Diaoyu Islands China:

eight uninhabited islands and rocks in question lie in the East China Sea

total area of about 7 sq km and lie northeast of Taiwan, east of the Chinese mainland and southwest of Japan's southern-most prefecture, Okinawa

Geography

The Senkaku Islands consist of those islands such as the Uotsuri Island, Kitakojima Island, and Minamikojima Island, Kubajima Island, Taisyojima Island, Okinokitaiwa, Okinominamiiwa and Tobise.

Historical Background(TIMELINE)

Records of these islands date back to as early as the 15th century

1796: The first published description of the islands in Europe was in a book imported by Isaac Titsingh  His small library of Japanese books included Sangoku Tsūran Zusetsu ( An Illustrated Description of Three Countries?)  by Hayashi Shihei

1785: text established in JAPAN , described the Ryūkyū Kingdom

1832: the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Irelandsupported the posthumous abridged publication of Titsingh's French translation.

1789-1791 : The name, "Pinnacle Isles" was apparently first applied to them by James Colnett, who charted them this year, voyage in the Argonaut.

November1797: William Robert Broughton sailed past them, during his voyage of discovery to the North Pacific in HMS Providence, and referred to Uotsuri Island as "Peaks Island"

1870s and 1880’s: the English name Pinnacle Islands was used by the British navy for the rocks adjacent to the largest island Uotsuri-shima /Diaoyu Dao (then called Hoa-pin-su, "Peace Island"); Kuba-shima /Huangwei Yu (then called Ti-a-usu); and Taishō-tō/Chiwei Yu. The name "Pinnacle Islands" is used by some as an English-language equivalent to "Senkaku" or "Diaoyu".

14 January 1895: The Japanese central government formally annexed the islands , naming them Senkaku, or “Pinnacled Pavilions

1900: Japanese entrepreneur Koga Tatsushirō constructed a bonito processing plant on the islands with 200 workers

Japanese workers at a bonito fishery processing plant on Uotsuri-shima sometime around 1910

The business failed in 1940 and the islands have remained deserted ever since.

1970s: Tatsushirō's son Zenji Koga and Zenji's wife Hanako sold four islets to the Kurihara family of Saitama Prefecture, Kunioki Kurihara owned Uotsuri, Kita-Kojima, and Minami-Kojima. Kunioki's sister owns Kuba.

1945 : The islands came under US government occupation , after the surrender of Japan ended World War II

1969: the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) identified potential oil and gas reserves in the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands

1971: the Okinawa Reversion Treaty passed the U.S. Senate, returning the islands to Japanese control

1972: the Okinawa Reversion Treaty passed the U.S. Senate, returning the islands to Japanese control, the Taiwanese and Chinese governments officially began to declare ownership of the islands.

the mayor of Ishigaki has been given civic authority over the territory, The Japanese central government, however, has prohibited Ishigaki from surveying or developing the islands

1979 : an official delegation from the Japanese government composed of 50 academics, government officials from the Foreign and Transport ministries, officials from the now-defunct Okinawa Development Agency, and Hiroyuki Kurihara, visited the islands and camped on Uotsuri for about four weeks.

The delegation surveyed the local ecosystem, finding moles and sheep, studied the local marine life, and examined whether the islands would support human

habitation.

2002 to 2012: the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications paid the

Kurihara family ¥25 million a year to rent Uotsuri, Minami-Kojima and Kita-Kojima.

Japan's Ministry of Defense rents Kuba island for an undisclosed amount. Kuba is used by the U.S. military as a practice aircraft bombing range. Japan's central government completely owns Taisho island.

17 December 2010: declared January 14 as "Pioneering Day" to commemorate Japan's 1895 annexation of the Senkaku Islands

2012: both the Tokyo Metropolitan and Japanese central governments announced plans to negotiate purchase of Uotsuri, Kita-Kojima, and Minami-Kojima from the Kurihara family.

11 September 2012: the Japanese government nationalized its control over Minami-kojima, Kita-kojima, and Uotsuri islands by purchasing them from the Kurihara family for ¥2.05 billion

China's Foreign Ministry objected saying Beijing would not "sit back and watch its territorial sovereignty violated."

Substantive claim

• This entails the substantive evidence to PROVE that it is part of their TERRITORY:

Why Are China and Japan Sparring Over Eight Tiny,

Uninhabited Islands?

• Because of :

1.natural gas

2.energy-rich island chains

For JAPAN:

For CHINA:

Japan-China Relations:Current Situation of Senkaku Islands

Location of Senkaku Islands

NEWS UPDATE