The Dispute Over The Diaoyu Senkaku Islands

The small unpopulated islands in the East China Sea that the Chinese call the Diaoyu and the Japanese call the Senkaku, have long been a source of contention. This volume will undertake an examination of the controversy as it plays out in legacy and new social media in China, Japan, and the West.

The small unpopulated islands in the East China Sea that the Chinese call the Diaoyu and the Japanese call the Senkaku, have long been a source of contention. This volume will undertake an examination of the controversy as it plays out in legacy and new social media in China, Japan, and the West.

In September 1996, members of the right-wing Japan Youth Federation repaired a lighthouse on one of the Diaoyu (J. Senkaku) Islands, a small group of uninhabited islets north of Taiwan in the Liuqiu (J. Ryukyu) chain, known today as Okinawa. For months, outraged ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong and Taiwan protested Japan’s presence in the islands, and violent confrontations between protesters and the Japanese Marine Self-Defense Force resulted. Tension over these incidents has subsided since 1996, but the sovereignty of the islands remains a concern for both China and Japan. The long and complex history of relations between the two countries has made the problem difficult to resolve. This volatile situation has been further complicated by the involvement of other countries, including the U.S. Although the Diaoyu/Senkaku matter may be characterized as a simple territorial dispute between two nations, it exposes complicated geopolitical relations among Japan, China, Taiwan, and the U.S. in the Asia-Pacific region. Sovereign Rights and Territorial Space in Sino-Japanese Relations is an investigation of the highly topical issues involved in the Diaoyu/Senkaku confrontation. It begins by addressing the issue of the historical development of the dispute: To whom do the islands belong? When did China and Japan become involved? Does historical evidence prove who has sovereignty over the islands? How has irredentism (the claim to territory based on one or another historical “right”) become a major state policy in both countries? Other issues center on Chinese views of sovereignty and methods of delimiting territorial boundaries during the Ming and Qing periods, the Chinese concept of hegemony, and the history behind the deep mistrust that permeates Sino-Japanese relations. Finally, the author discloses the interwoven relationship between geography and history in East Asia. Chinese and Japanese geographers have for centuries been engaged in historical analyses of the islands. Their work, which has been used in the development of national security and diplomatic policies, is an important resource and one that this book makes available to Western scholars for the first time. In addition to his careful examination of these and other sources, Suganuma utilizes theoretical writings on geographical irredentism to expose the biases of recent work on the Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute. This volume is the fullest scholarly treatment that the contested issue of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands has received to date in any language. It contains much of interest for historians of modern China and Japan as well as for political scientists looking for new insights into international relations and Sino-Japanese interactions. No one who reads it will look at sovereignty in the same way again.

Crossing disciplinary boundaries, this volume offers a rare forum for a serious analysis of the territorial dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands between China and Japan. To understand the complexity of the dispute and to find peaceful solutions, we must reach beyond the confines of a single discipline and perspective. The volume deconstructs conflicting perspectives on the two sides of the dispute. Territorial disputes often become symbolic expressions of nationalistic rivalries, particularly as political claims for territories escalate and economic competition for resources between countries intensifies. Cutting through the political rhetoric on both sides of the controversy and bringing together a group of eight scholars from the disciplines of history, international relations, law, political science, and sociology, this book analyzes the relevant history, international law, multilateral relations, political agendas, and social and collective memory, to shed light on this difficult dispute. Taken together, the chapters of the book propose short-term, medium-term, and long-term peaceful solutions for going beyond the impasse of the current territorial dispute.

Most books on the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute between China and Japan are authored by either Chinese who argue that the islands belong to China or by Japanese who contend that the islands are rightfully Japan's. This book is the first of its kind — by a Japanese who supports China's claim or vice versa. Written by one of the foremost historians on Sino–Japanese relations, Tadayoshi Murata, Professor Emeritus from Japan's Yokohama National University, delves into the Japanese archives and uncovers evidence that shows Japan's ownership of the disputed islands is historically untenable. Given the current impasse surrounding the islands, Professor Murata suggests, as a way out, the two sides jointly manage the disputed territories based on mutual understanding. It is a must-read for those interested in Sino–Japanese relations, especially the history of the disputed islands, and the future of the two countries. Contents: About the AuthorIntroduction: The Importance of a Calm, Objective StandpointThe Tripartite Relationship between the Ryukyus, China, and JapanThe 36 Islands of RyukyuEast Asian Upheavals and the Ryukyu KingdomFrom Tokugawa Shogunate to Meiji RestorationNishimura Sutezo, 1885Victory in the First Sino–Japanese War and Clandestine OccupationFramework for the Treaty of Shimonoseki Drafted in JanuaryAssessing the Japanese Government's Basic Viewpoints AppendixAfterword Readership: Readers who are interested in the Japanese–Chinese territorial dispute on Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands and Sino–Japan relations.

Although the flare-up of tensions in East Asia over the disputed islands, which are alternatively called Diaoyu (China), Diaoyutai (Taiwan) and Senkaku (Japan), seems to be ever more frequent, it has not always been the case. Lessons from the Disturbed Waters traces the origin of the issue back to when it first surfaced in the 1970s. The book explains the positions of the claimants, China, Japan and Taiwan, and explores the reasons why they have taken such positions over the past few decades. Unlike the other books which analyse the disputes predominantly from a geopolitical perspective, this books tries to do so mainly from the perspectives of international law, conflict management, negotiation strategies, and history. Readers will get to see an interesting dynamism played out among the three actors which are directly involved and the influence of extra-regional stakeholders such as the US over the disputes. While the disputes are still evolving, the author hopes this book can shed new light on the intricacies and complexities of the disputes and can provide some threads for further in-depth discussions. Contents:IntroductionChina's Positions:China's PositionsHistorical ArgumentsIssue-Linkage with TaiwanChallenges to Fishing in the East China SeaIssues with Other Claimants' Positions:The Sovereignty MythJapan's PositionsIssues and Challenges on the Sea:China's Law Enforcement Agency on the SeaRe-Contemplation from the View of Conflict ManagementOther Emerging Challenges:Epilogue Readership: Undergraduate and graduate students, academics, researchers, foreign affairs analysts, and readers interested in East Asia's maritime territorial disputes. Key Features:Analyzes the Diaoyu/Diaoyutai/Senkaku disputes from new angles, with special emphasis on the roles of international law, conflict management, and negotiation strategies and practicesChallenges traditional perceptions or understandings of important concepts such as sovereignty, identity, and history with regards to the Diaoyu/Diaoyutai/Senkaku disputesSheds new light on an emerging form of international dispute settlement and regional and international cooperation model for territorial water disputes in East and Southeast AsiaKeywords:China;Japan;Taiwan;US;Diaoyu;Senkaku;Diaoyutai;Okinawa;Sovereignty;Territorial Disputes;Maritime Territorial Disputes;Conflict Management;UNCLOS;International Law;East China Sea;South China Sea;Nationalism;Fishery

Since the coming into force of the United Nations Law of the Sea, states have been targeting outlying islands to expand their exclusive economic zones, simultaneously stirring up strident nationalism when such plans clash with those of neighbouring states. No such actions have brought the world closer to the brink of war than the ongoing face-off between China and Japan over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands, an uninhabited archipelago in the East China Sea. In this timely and original book, Godfrey Baldacchino provides a detailed exploration of seven tried and tested solution protocols that have led to innovative 'win-win' solutions to island disputes over the last four centuries. A closer look at the circumstances and processes that brought contending regional powers to an honourable, even mutually advantageous, settlement over islands provides a convincing and original argument as to why the conflict over the Diaoyu/Senkaku islands need not conclude in a ‘zero-sum’ or 'winner takes all' solution, as is the likely outcome of both open conflict and international arbitration. The book will be of interest to scholars and practitioners concerned with the festering Diaoyu/Senkaku dispute, as well as students, scholars and policy specialists in geography, geopolitics, international relations, conflict studies, island studies, Asian studies and history.

This book mainly demonstrates the sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands, illustrates the significance, approach and means of peaceful settlement of the Diaoyu Islands dispute, and clarifies China’s principal stand on the Diaoyu Islands issue. According to mode of territorial acquisition, the critical date and the inter-temporal theory in international law, the Diaoyu Islands had been China’s territory rather than terra nullius or a part of Ryukyu before 1895. Therefore, Japan could not acquire the Diaoyu Islands by occupation. Instead, Japan acquired the Diaoyu Islands by cession during the Sino-Japanese War in 1895. In light of the situation and inter-temporal law of the critical date, China resumed her sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands after WWII. China beyond any doubt enjoys the sovereignty over the Diaoyu Islands. China upholds the principle of peaceful settlement of the Diaoyu Islands dispute and strongly opposes settling the dispute by means of violence. Studies show that the settlement of the Diaoyu Islands dispute can be analyzed and studied in reference to the operational mode of the International Court of Justice, and China and Japan should take the Franco-German reconciliation model to resolve the Diaoyu Islands dispute politically.