Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands Dispute: China and Japan's Competing Claims

The Diaoyu Islands (China) / Senkaku Islands (Japan) are a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea, subject to a bitter sovereignty dispute between China and Japan (Taiwan also claims them as Tiaoyutai).

China's Position

• Historical records (Ming/Qing maps, tributary missions) show Chinese discovery, naming, and administration since the 14th century.
• Japan "stole" them in 1895 after the First Sino-Japanese War, per the Treaty of Shimonoseki.
• Post-WWII, they should have been returned to China per Cairo/Potsdam Declarations.

Japan's Position

• Islands were terra nullius (uninhabited, no sovereign) in 1895; legally incorporated via cabinet decision.
• Not part of Taiwan/Pescadores ceded to Japan in 1895; thus not covered by post-WWII return obligations.
• US administered them 1945–1972; returned to Japan under Okinawa Reversion Agreement.
• Effective control: Coast Guard patrols, lighthouse, no Chinese presence until 1970s.

Current Status

Japan administers; China (and Taiwan) contest. Regular Coast Guard confrontations; risk of escalation. US maintains neutrality on sovereignty but affirms Article 5 of US-Japan Security Treaty applies.

Resolution remains distant; both sides invoke history, law, and national pride.