In 1885, the Japanese Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, Nishimura Sutezo, petitioned the Meiji government, asking that it take formal control of the islands.[9] However, Inoue Kaoru, the Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs, commented that the islands lay near to the border area with the Qing empire and that they had been given Chinese names. He also cited an article in a Chinese newspaper that had previously claimed that Japan was occupying islands off China's coast. Inoue was concerned that if Japan proceeded to erect a landmark stating its claim to the islands, it would make the Qing empire suspicious.[9] Following Inoue's advice, Yamagata Aritomo, the Minister of the Interior, turned down the request to incorporate the islands, insisting that this matter should not be "revealed to the news media".[9]
On 14 January 1895, during the First Sino-Japanese War, Japan incorporated the islands under the administration of Okinawa, stating that it had conducted surveys since 1884 and that the islands were terra nullius (Latin: no man's land), with there being no evidence to suggest that they had been under the Qing empire's control.[citation needed]
After China lost the war, both countries signed the Treaty of Shimonoseki in April 1895 that stipulated, among other things, that China would cede to Japan "the island of Formosa together with all islands appertaining or belonging to said island of Formosa (Taiwan)".[10]
The Senkaku Islands (尖閣諸島, Senkaku-shotÅ?, variants: Senkaku-guntÅ[1] and Senkaku-rettÅ[2]), also known as the Diaoyu Islands (Chinese: 钓鱼岛åŠå…¶é™„属岛屿; pinyin: Dià oyúdÇŽo jÃqà fùshÇ” dÇŽoyÇ” also simply 钓鱼岛) in mainland China or Diaoyutai Islands (Chinese: 釣éšå°ç¾¤å³¶; pinyin: Dià oyútái QúndÇŽo) 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.
Since the transfer of administration from United States to Japan in 1971, Japan's ownership of the islands has been disputed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, also known as Taiwan). 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.[4]
The islands are an issue in foreign relations between Japan and the PRC and between Japan and the ROC.[5] 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.
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é€; traditional Chinese: é †é¢¨ç›¸é€; pinyin: ShùnfÄ“ng XiÄngsòng) (1403) [6] and Record of the Imperial Envoy's Visit to RyÅ«kyÅ« (simplified Chinese: 使ç‰çƒå½•; traditional Chinese: 使ç‰çƒéŒ„; pinyin: ShÄ Liúqiú Lù) (1534). Adopted by the Chinese Imperial Map of the Ming Dynasty, both the Chinese name for the island group (Diaoyu) and the Japanese name for the main island (Uotsuri) both mean "fishing".
