Submitted By : Sandeep S
Introduction Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are a group of uninhabited islands in East China Sea lying about 400 kms west of Okinawa,Japan and 170 kms northeast of Taiwan. These islands are a group of five volcanic islets and three barren rocks. Altogether, they measure a surface area of only 6.3 sq km. The islands are home to the endangered Senkaku mole and the short-tailed
Albatross barring which there is no flora or fauna of any economic importance. The islands are highly significant from a military perspective as a strategic outpost. Dispute Today Senkaku islands are under the sovereignty of Japan. The islands are a point of contention between Japan, China and Taiwan. All claim to have discovered the islands and occupied the islands first. The records indicate that in early as in 1372 the islands had been used a navigational reference by the Chinese Imperial emissiaries. Taiwan’s claim rest on case that it has occupied the islands for a long time and that the islands form a natural extension of its continental shelf. Japan claims that under the detailed survey in 1885-95 the islands were found to be uninhabited and hence they incorporated the islands into its territory under “terra nullius”. Since 1895, the islands have been placed under Japanese administration. History behind Islands sovereignty of Japan Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands was ceded by China to Japan by the treaty of Shimonoseki which ended what is called the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895). China claims that under the Potsdam Declaration which ended the Second Sino-Japan War (19371945) as part of ending WWII, Japan lost the rights to the islands, re-opening the issue of sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands. Japan claims that the Senkaku Islands were not included in the territory which Japan renounced under Article 2 of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951 that legally defined the
Bibliography: Senkaku (Diaoyu/Diaoyutai) Islands Dispute: U.S. Treaty Obligations - Mark E. Manyin The Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands Dispute - Questions of Sovereignty and Suggestions for Resolving the Dispute - Martin Lohmeyer Fact sheet on Senkaku Islands http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asiapaci/senkaku/fact_sheet.html Senkaku Islands Dispute Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Senkaku_Islands_dispute Did Japan Buy Senkaku Islands - http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/asiapacific/japan/120905/senkaku-islands-east-china-sea