A Taiwan academic has questioned Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara’s plan to purchase three islands in the Diaoyutai Archipelago, citing documents from 1885-1895 in which the Japanese government acknowledges Chinese ownership.
Shaw Han-yi, a research fellow at Taipei-based National Chengchi University’s Research Center for International Legal Studies, made the statement in an opinion piece published May 3 by The Wall Street Journal.
“The governor’s nationalist rhetoric and provocative actions do nothing to resolve the issue, and will make coming confrontations harder to back down from,” Shaw said. “The only way to heal the wound once and for all is for the two parties to return to the crux of the problem: the merits of their legal claims.”
Shaw concedes that Tokyo’s claim to the Diaoyutais appears to be strong. Since 1885 it claims to have repeatedly surveyed the East China Sea archipelago and having found no evidence of Chinese control, issued a Cabinet decision Jan. 14, 1895, to incorporate them, he said.
In addition, Tokyo holds that the Diaoyutais were not part of Taiwan, which was ceded to Japan at the end of the first Sino-Japanese War (1894-1895), nor were they included in the territory that Japan renounced under the San Francisco Peace Treaty in 1951, Shaw added.
The archipelago, he said, was considered Japanese territory subject to U.S. administration until 1971 under the treaty and no objections were made to this position by Taipei or Beijing.
But Shaw said several Japanese government documents he has uncovered raise doubts over Tokyo’s position.
“In May 1894, the Home Ministry wrote, ‘Ever since the islands were investigated by persons dispatched by police agencies of Okinawa back in 1885, there have been no subsequent field surveys conducted.’”
The academic believes this is the final relevant correspondence prior to the Sino-Japanese War, during which Tokyo decided to secretly incorporate the archipelago.
“The Chinese do not dispute that the islands, along with Taiwan, were part of Japan from 1895 to 1945. But with the conclusion of World War II, the islands should have been restored to their pre-1895 legal status,” Shaw said.
According to records provided by Taipei and Beijing, the Diaoyutais were discovered, named and used by the Chinese in the 15th century. These records also include the islands as Chinese territory and specify them as part of Taiwan.
Both sides of the strait agree that the archipelago was annexed by Japan in 1895 following China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War. Therefore, it should have been returned as per the Cairo Declaration of 1943 and the Potsdam Declaration of 1945. (JSM)
Write to Rachel Chan at rachelchan@mail.gio.gov.tw