Senkaku
Islands
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encyclopedia
The Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島 Senkaku-shotō?, variants: 尖閣群島 Senkaku-guntō[1] and 尖閣列島 Senkaku-rettō[2]), also known as the Diaoyu Islands
(Chinese: 钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿; pinyin: Diàoyúdǎo jí qí fùshǔ dǎoyǔ;
also simply 钓鱼岛)
in Mainland China or Tiaoyutai Islands (Chinese: 釣魚台列嶼; pinyin: Diàoyútái liè yǔ) in Taiwan,[3]
or the Pinnacle Islands, are a group of uninhabited islands controlled
by Japan
in the East China Sea. They are located roughly due east of Mainland China,
northeast of Taiwan,
west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands.
After it was discovered in 1968 that
oil reserves might be found under the sea near the islands,[4][5][6][7][8]
Japan's sovereignty over them has been disputed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of
China (ROC, commonly known as Taiwan) following the transfer of administration
from the United States to Japan in 1971. The Chinese claim the discovery and
control of the islands from the 14th century. Japan controlled the islands from
1895 until its surrender at the end of World War II. The United States
administered them as part of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu
Islands from 1945 until 1972, when the
islands reverted to Japanese control under the Okinawa Reversion Treaty between
the United States and Japan.[9]
The islands are an issue in foreign relations between Japan and the PRC and between Japan and the ROC.[10]
Despite the complexity of relations between the PRC and ROC, both governments agree that the
islands are part of Taiwan as part of Toucheng Township in Yilan County of their respective divisions. Japan does not officially
recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state,[3]
and regards the islands as a part of Ishigaki,
Okinawa Prefecture and acknowledges neither the claims of the PRC nor ROC to
the islands. The Japanese government has not allowed Ishigaki to develop the
islands.
History
Early
history
Records of these islands date back
to as early as the 15th century. They were referred as Diaoyu in books
such as Voyage with a Tail Wind (simplified
Chinese: 顺风相送; traditional Chinese:
順風相送; pinyin: Shùnfēng Xiāngsòng) (1403) [11]
and Record of the Imperial Envoy's Visit to Ryūkyū (simplified
Chinese: 使琉球录; traditional Chinese:
使琉球錄; pinyin: Shĭ Liúqiú Lù) (1534).
Adopted by the Chinese Imperial Map of the Ming Dynasty, the Chinese name for
the island group (Diaoyu) and the
Japanese name for the main island (Uotsuri) both mean
"fishing".
The first published description of
the islands in Europe was in a book imported by Isaac Titsingh
in 1796. His small library of Japanese books included Sangoku
Tsūran Zusetsu (三国通覧図説 An Illustrated Description of
Three Countries?) by Hayashi Shihei.[12]
This text, which was published in Japan in 1785, described the Ryūkyū Kingdom.[13]
In 1832, the Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and
Ireland supported the posthumous abridged
publication of Titsingh's French translation.[14]
The name, "Pinnacle Isles"
was apparently first applied to them by James Colnett,
who charted them during his 1789-1791 voyage in the Argonaut.[15]
William
Robert Broughton sailed past them in November 1797
during his voyage of discovery to the North Pacific in HMS Providence,
and referred to Uotsuri Island as "Peaks Island".[16]
Reference was made to the islands in a in Edward Belcher's
1848 account of the voyages of HMS Sammarang.[17]
Captain Belcher observed that "the names assigned in this region have been
too hastily admitted."[18]
Belcher reported anchoring off Pinnacle Island in March 1845.[19]
In 1870s and 1880s, 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,
和平屿,
"Peace Island"); Kuba-shima /Huangwei Yu (then called Ti-a-usu);
and Taishō-tō/Chiwei Yu.[20]
The name "Pinnacle Islands" is used by some as an English-language
equivalent to "Senkaku" or "Diaoyu".[21]
The collective use of the name
"Senkaku" to denote the entire group began with the advent of the
controversy in the 1970s.[22]
Japanese
and US control
The Japanese central government
formally annexed the islands on 14 January 1895, naming them Senkaku, or
“Pinnacled Pavilions.”[24]
Around 1900, Japanese entrepreneur Koga Tatsushirō (古賀 辰四郎?) constructed a bonito processing plant on the islands with
200 workers. The business failed in 1940 and the islands have remained deserted
ever since.[23]
In the 1970s, Koga Tatsushirō's son Zenji Koga and Zenji's wife Hanako sold
four islets to the Kurihara family of Saitama Prefecture. Kunioki Kurihara[25] owned Uotsuri, Kita-Kojima, and
Minami-Kojima. Kunioki's sister owns Kuba.[26]
The islands came under US government
occupation in 1945 after the surrender of Japan ended World War II.[23]
In 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.[27]
In 1971, the Okinawa Reversion Treaty passed the U.S. Senate, returning the
islands to Japanese control in 1972.[28]
Also in 1972, the Taiwanese and Chinese governments officially began to declare
ownership of the islands.[29]
Since the islands reverted to
Japanese government control in 1972, 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.[23][30]
In 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.[26]
From 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.[26][31]
On 17 December 2010, Ishigaki
declared January 14 as "Pioneering Day" to commemorate Japan's 1895
annexation of the Senkaku Islands. China condemned Ishigaki's actions.[32]
In 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.[26]
On 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.[29][33]
China's Foreign Ministry objected saying Beijing would not "sit back and
watch its territorial sovereignty violated."[34]
Geography
The island group consists of five
uninhabited islets and three barren rocks.
These minor features in the East
China Sea are located approximately 120 nautical miles northeast of Taiwan, 200
nautical miles east of the Chinese mainland and 200 nautical miles southwest of
the Japanese island of Okinawa.[35]
In ascending order of distances, the
island cluster is located:
- 140 kilometres (76 nmi; 87 mi)
east of Pengjia Islet, ROC [36]
- 170 kilometres (92 nmi; 110 mi)
north of Ishigaki Island, Japan
- 186 kilometres (100 nmi; 116 mi)
northeast of Keelung, ROC
- 410 kilometres (220 nmi; 250 mi)
west of Okinawa Island, Japan
|
Islands
in the group
|
|||||
|
No.
|
Japanese
name
|
Chinese
name
|
Coordinates
|
Area
(km2)
|
Highest
elevation (m)
|
|
1
|
Diaoyu Dao (釣魚島)
|
4.32
|
383
|
||
|
2
|
Chiwei Yu (赤尾嶼)
|
0.0609
|
75
|
||
|
3
|
Huangwei Yu (黃尾嶼)
|
1.08
|
117
|
||
|
4
|
Bei Xiaodao(北小島)
|
0.3267
|
135
|
||
|
5
|
Nan Xiaodao(南小島)
|
0.4592
|
149
|
||
|
6
|
Da Bei Xiaodao(大北小島/北岩)
|
0.0183
|
nominal
|
||
|
7
|
Da Nan Xiaodao (大南小島/南岩)
|
0.0048
|
nominal
|
||
|
8
|
Fei Jiao Yan (飛礁岩/飛岩)
|
0.0008
|
nominal
|
||
The depth of the surrounding waters
of the continental shelf is approximately 100–150 metres (328–492 ft)
except for the Okinawa Trough on the south.[45]
The existence of the back-arc basin
complicates descriptive issues. According to Professor Ji Guoxing
of the Asia-Pacific Department at Shanghai Institute for International Studies,
- China's interpretation of the geography is that
"...the
Okinawa Trough proves that the continental shelves of China and Japan are not
connected, that the Trough serves as the boundary between them, and that the
Trough should not be ignored ...."[46]
- Japan's interpretation of the geography is that
"...the
trough is just an incidental depression in a continuous continental margin
between the two countries ... [and] the trough should be ignored ...."[46]
Flora
and fauna
Permission for collecting herbs on
three of the islands was recorded in an Imperial Chinese edict of 1893.[47]
Uotsuri-shima, the largest island,
has a number of endemic species such as the Senkaku Mole
(Mogera uchidai) and Okinawa-kuro-oo-ari ant. Due to domestic goats
introduced to the island in 1978, the Senkaku mole is an endangered species.[48]
Albatross are observed in the
islands.[49]
Amongst all islands, Minami Kojima is one of the few breeding places of the
rare Short-tailed Albatross (Phoebastria albatrus).
Sovereignty
dispute
Territorial sovereignty over the
islands and the maritime boundaries around them are disputed between the People's
Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Japan.
The People's Republic and Taiwan
claim that the islands have been a part of Chinese territory since at least
1534. They acknowledge that Japan took control of the islands in 1894–1895
during the first Sino-Japanese War, through the signature of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. They assert that the Potsdam Declaration (which Japan accepted as part of the San
Francisco Peace Treaty) required
that Japan relinquish control of all islands except for "the islands of
Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine",
and they state that this means control of the islands should pass to China.
Japan does not accept that there is
a dispute, asserting that the islands are an integral part of Japan.[50]
Japan has rejected claims that the islands were under China's control prior to
1895, and that these islands were contemplated by the Potsdam Declaration or
affected by the San Francisco Peace Treaty.[51]
The entire wiki link can be found
at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands
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