A thought paper on Diaoyu Island dispute in East Asia
Introduction
The territorial dispute on the controversial sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands can be trace back down to the 1970s. Due to its special geographical location, which is located roughly due east of Mainland China, northeast of Taiwan, west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands. The issue has long been a diplomatic one between China, Taiwan and Japan and has been put aside in the last few decades but recently, as the Japanese government officially announce its purchasing plan on the islands last month, the issue is concerned again and being put on the international stage.
Background
According to China, she owns the islands’ sovereignty since ancient times, which was administered by the Taiwan province and giving important fishing resources to Chinese. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China said that this is "fully proven by history and is legally well-founded".[1]
But for Japanese, she claimed she had been surveying the islands since 1880s and realized it as unhabited, so they then declared they have the sovereignty over it in 1895. Also, after World War II, she renounced claims to territories in the 1951 Treaty of San Francisco. But under the treaty the Nansei Shoto islands came under US trusteeship and were then returned to Japan in 1971, under the Okinawa reversion deal. She also claimed China raised no objection to the San Francisco Deal and the sovereignty dispute only happened since the 1970s, where China realized the oil resources of the islands’ area.[2]
The US’s major stance
The US has long been taking the so called “neutral” stance to the issue. On the 28th September, 2012, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and pacific affairs, Kurt Campbell, has officially reiterated that the Diaoyu Islands issue is the diplomatic problem between China and Japan only, the US has no intention to interfere.[3] He also admitted that the issue...