Updated: 2012-09-28 11:03
From China Daily, reposted on New York Times and Washington Post
Diaoyu Islands, which consist of Diaoyu Island, Huangwei Yu, Chiwei Yu, Nanxiao Dao, Beixiao Dao, Nan Yu, Bei Yu, Fei Yu and other islands and reefs, are located to the northeast of China's Taiwan Island, in the waters between 12320'-12440'E (East Longitude) and 2540'-2600'N (North Latitude), and are affiliated to the Taiwan Island. The total landmass of these islands is approximately 5.69 square kilometers. Diaoyu Island, about 3.91 square kilometers in landmass, is the largest island in the area.
Diaoyu Islands, which include Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands, have been an inherent territory of China since ancient times, and China has indisputable sovereignty over the islands.
Diaoyu Island was first discovered, named and exploited by China. The earliest historical record of the names of Diaoyu Island and its affiliated island Chiwei Yu and other places can be found in the book Voyage with a Tail Wind (Shun Feng Xiang Song) published in China in 1403.
It shows that China had already discovered and named Diaoyu Island by the 14th and 15th centuries.
Diaoyu Islands had long been under China's jurisdiction in the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.
In the early years of the Ming Dynasty, China placed Diaoyu Island under its coastal defense to guard against the invasion of Japanese pirates along its southeast coast.
Chinese and foreign maps show that Diaoyu Islands belong to China.
The book Illustrated Outline of the Three Countries written by Hayashi Shihei in 1785 was the earliest Japanese literature to mention Diaoyu Island. The Map of the Three Provinces and 36 Islands of Ryukyu in the book put Diaoyu Island as being apart from the 36 islands of Ryukyu and colored it the same as the mainland of China, indicating that Diaoyu Island was part of China's territory.
Maps such as A New Map of China from the Latest Authorities published in Britain in 1811, Colton's China published in the United States in 1859, and A Map of China's East Coast: Hongkong to Gulf of Liao-Tung compiled by the British Navy in 1877 all marked Diaoyu Island as part of China's territory.
The waters surrounding Diaoyu Island are traditionally Chinese fishing ground. Chinese fishermen have, for generations, engaged in fishery activities in these waters. In the past, Diaoyu Island was used as a navigation marker by the Chinese people living on the southeast coast.
Japan grabbed Diaoyu Island from China.
On April 17, 1895, the Qing court was defeated in the Sino-Japanese War and forced to sign the unequal Treaty of Shimonoseki and cede to Japan Taiwan along with Diaoyu Island.
In 1900, Japan changed the name of Diaoyu Islands to "Senkaku Islands".
Diaoyu Island was returned to China after the Second World War.
The 1943 Cairo Declaration* and the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation**, which laid out the terms for the Japanese surrender at the end of World War II, obliged the country to return all the Chinese territories it had forcibly occupied.
On September 2, 1945, the Japanese government accepted the Potsdam Proclamation in explicit terms with the Japanese Instrument of Surrender and pledged to faithfully fulfill the obligations enshrined in the provisions of the Potsdam Proclamation.
On September 29, 1972, the Japanese government committed with all seriousness in the China-Japan Joint Statement that "it firmly maintains its stand under Article 8 of the Potsdam Proclamation."
These facts show that in accordance with the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender, Diaoyu Islands, as affiliated islands of Taiwan, should be returned, together with Taiwan, to China.
China has opposed the backroom deals between the United States and Japan concerning Diaoyu Island.
On September 8, 1951, Japan, the United States and a number of other countries signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan (commonly known as the Treaty of San Francisco) with China being excluded from it. The treaty placed the Nansei Islands south of the 29th parallel of North Latitude under United Nations' trusteeship, with the United States as the sole administering authority. It should be pointed out that the Nansei Islands placed under the administration of the United States in the Treaty of Peace with Japan did not include Diaoyu Island.
The United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR) issued Civil Administration Ordinance No. 68 (Provisions of the Government of the Ryukyu Islands) on February 29, 1952 and Civil Administration Proclamation No. 27 (defining the "geographical boundary lines of the Ryukyu Islands") on December 25, 1953, arbitrarily expanding its jurisdiction to include China's Diaoyu Island. However, there were no legal grounds whatsoever for the US act, to which China has firmly opposed.
On June 17, 1971, Japan and the United States signed the Agreement Concerning the Ryukyu Islands and the Daito Islands (Okinawa Reversion Agreement), which provided that any and all powers of administration over the Ryukyu Islands and Diaoyu Island would be "returned" to Japan. The Chinese people, including overseas Chinese, all condemned such a backroom deal.
Japan's so-called "nationalization" of Diaoyu Island severely infringes upon China's sovereignty and rejects and challenges the outcomes of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War.
China's will to defend national sovereignty and territorial integrity is firm and its resolve to uphold the outcomes of the World Anti-Fascist War will not be shaken by any force.
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* In December 1943, the Cairo Declaration stated in explicit terms that "all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa [Taiwan] and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed."
** In July 1945, the Potsdam Proclamation stated in Article 8: "The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine."