2. What is the conflict about?
Territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands
Between Japan, the People´s Republic of China
and the Republic of China (Taiwan)
Key shipping lanes, rich fishing ground and
perhaps some oil and gas reserves
Marine and air patrol vessels from Japan and
China
Escalation of hostilities might occur,
because of the tension between the
countries
3. History
Mentioned in Chinese sources from the 1400s
Taken by Japan in 1895
Uninhabited since 1940
Several conflicts and siding with different
parties in the past
From 1945 to 1972
1945: taken and ruled by American military
1952: local political power
1972: the islands were transferred back to
Japan
4. How extensive is the conflict?
14.09.12: China sent six military patrols
boats
Triggered anti-Japanese riots in China
19.09.12: Japanese governmental
websites were hacked
11.2013: China declared an “air defense
identification zone”
The islands are included within the Treaty of
Mutual Cooperation and Security
scrambling is the act of quickly getting
military aircraft airborne to react to an
immediate threat, usually to intercept
hostile aircraft.
5. Allegations
The People´s Republic of China/the
Republic of China
The Míng dynasty discovered the
islands
Japan accepted that they had
sovereignty over the Senkaku
Islands
Japan should have ceded from the
Island after the WW2
The United Nations Convention on
the law of the sea
The Senkaku Islands are located
on the Chinese continental shelf
and is an extension of Taiwan´s
eastern mountain range
Japan
The Islands were uninhabited until
the Japanese government
decided to claim them
Japan has exercised sovereignty
Regulating economic activity
Renting them out to private
Built a weather station and
helicopters land space
Patrolling Coast Guard
If China ever has had ownership
over the islands, why did they not
protest before 1971?
6. What solutions have been
suggested?
Several rounds of conversations considered joint-
development of sub-seabed resources in disputed
territorial waters
An agreement on joint development of resources was
reached
Relations between China and Japan over competing claims to the Islands in the East China Sea continue to be strained. The Senkaku Islands dispute concerns a territorial dispute over a group of islands. The territory is close to key shipping lanes and rich fishing grounds, and there may be oil reserves in the area. Chinese and Japanese marine and air patrol vessels continue to operate closely in the area, making the risk of mistakes leading to an armed confrontation a real danger. Though Chinese and Japanese leaders have refrained from forcibly establishing control over the Senkaku Islands, escalation of hostilities might occur, because of the tension between the countries.
The islands are mentioned all the way back to Chinese sources from the 1400s. The islands were formally taken by Japan in 1895, but have been uninhabited since 1940 and have been sold between single parties several times.
From 1945 to 1971
The Senkaku Islands were taken over and ruled by the American military after the battle of Okinawa in 1945. The area got local political power after the San Francisco – treaty in 1952, but was actually still occupied by the US civilian administration. In 1972, the Senkaku Islands were transferred back to the Japanese, as a part of the relinquishment of Okinawa. The islands were officially declared Japanese by the government of China in 1971 (both the republic and the people´s republic).
On the 14th of September 2012, the People´s Republic of China sent six military patrol boats into the Japanese territorial water by the islands to claim its sovereignty. This came as a result of the Japanese government´s decision to buy three of the islands from a Japanese family, costing them 150 million Norwegian Kroner. The Chinese regarded this as a sneak nationalizing of the islands. The Chinese vessels withdrew after the Japanese sent their cost guard. All of this triggered extensive anti-Japanese riots in China the following weekend, where both the Japanese embassy in Beijing and Japanese stores and buildings were attacked with objects such as stones.
On September 19, Japanese governmental websites were hacked, and according to Japanese police, the attacks could the tracked back to China. There were also threats coming from the Chinese, regarding the trade, which led to the Tokyo stock declining significantly.
In the end of November 2013, China declared an “air defense identification zone” above the islands, overlapping the Japanese airspace. The US did not accept this declaration and sent in B-52 bombers that did not want to identify. Although the United States does not have an official position on the merits of the competing sovereignty claims, the islands are included within the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, meaning that a defense of the islands by Japan would require the United States to come to Japan's aid.
Allegations made by the People´s Republic of China/ the Republic of China
- The Míng dynasty discovered the islands and had exerted sovereignty on the islands since the 14th century.
- China claims that Japan accepted the fact that they had sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands before 1895.
- Japan should have ceded from the Island after the Second World War.
- The Senkaku Islands are located on the Chinese continental shelf and is an extension of Taiwan´s eastern mountain range. They refer to UNCLOS where coastal states have rights over the continental shelf even if it extends more than 200 nautical miles from the coast. Thus goes the Chinese boundary line where the Senkaku Islands begins. China also presented this to the United Nations in an attempt to support its claims.
Allegations made by Japan
- The Senkaku Islands was no man's land until the 14th of January 1895, after the Japanese government decided to claim them.
- Japan has exercised sovereignty by regulating economic activity, renting them out to private, built a weather station and helicopters land space and patrolling Coast Guard in the area.
- If China ever has had ownership over the islands, why did they not protest before 1971 (May 1969, United Nations reported that a large oil and gas reserve may exist under the seabed near the islands)?
In 1969, the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East identified potential oil and gas reserves in the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands. During decades, there were several rounds of conversations considered joint-development of sub-seabed resources in disputed territorial waters. Such efforts to develop a cooperative strategy have so far been unsuccessful, as the parties did not agree.
In 2008, an agreement on joint development of resources was reached but the agreement only includes the area far from these islands.
The dispute of these islands is a small effect of a difficult relationship between China and Japan. There have been many armed conflict between the two parties and that has created a tense relationship that still remains today. Even so, they are still trade partners and benefits from each others economies. All of this intensifies the situation in the East China Sea, and there’s a high risk of escalating hostility.
