The Senkaku Islands are a group of islands located between Japan, Taiwan, and China whose sovereignty is disputed between the three countries. China and Taiwan claim historical rights to the islands dating back to the 14th century, while Japan asserts it legally acquired sovereignty over the uninhabited islands in 1895 and has administered them since. The dispute over the islands stems from their strategic location and potential oil, gas, and fishing resources. Diplomatic efforts over the years to jointly manage resources or freeze the dispute have failed to resolve the competing sovereignty claims.

1. Adressed to the Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Topic – The Senkaku Islands
The Senkaku Islands are Japanese islands located 410 kilometers south-west of Okinawa
Island, 170 kilometers north-east of Taiwan and 335 kilometers south-east of the Chinese city of
Wenzhou. They are a group of five main islands1
encompassing an area of 4.5 km² and three rocks2
.
China and Taiwan have asserted the sovereignty over the Senkaku islands since 1971.
They argue that the discovery of the islands from the 14th
century gives them a ‘historical‘ right that
they lost in the aftermath of the Sino-Japanese War in 1894-1895. China still thinks the Senkaku
Islands had been lost unfairly and that has to be compensated for this injustice. Yet this statement
clearly goes against the Law of the sea defined by the Montego Bay Convention in 1982 which had
been signed by the three countries.
1. What is at stake for Japan ?
 Halieutic Resources. The warm and cool ocean currents3
that border the islands
provide a great fishing potential. Japan is the top fish consumer in the world - 52.8 kg
per capita between 2011 and 2013 versus a worldwide average of 19.2 kg per capita.
 Oil and Gas. A report carried out by the China National Offshore Oil Corporation
(CNOOC) stated that there is a production potential of 70 to 160 billion barrels of oil
and 250 trillion cubic feet of gas for all the Eastern Chinese Sea. Japan is very
dependent on foreign energy suppliers – 1st natural gas-importing country in the
world, 2nd coal importer and 4th
crude oil importer4
. The cease of nuclear activities
after the Fukushima disaster brings our energetic model into question.
 Shipping Routes. The Senkaku Islands are strategic for the control of sea routes that
lead to the Chinese harbors of Shanghai, Ningbo and Tsingtao – 1st, 6th and 7th
world’s biggest ports.
2. Historical and political background
The Senkaku Islands had the status of Terra Nullius5
until 1894 when Japan took control of
the Islands through the signature of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Then they are exploited by Japanese
industries with economic purposes until 1940. The invasion of Manchuria in 1931, the abuses of 731
Unity that followed and the Nanking massacre in 1937 have stayed vividly in the collective imaginary
of the Chinese society and help us get a better insight of the strong resentful of China to our
consideration. There is no mention of the Senkaku Islands during the Cairo Conference in 1943.
The islands came under US administration after the San Francisco Treaty signed in 1951.
Neither China nor Taiwan asserted their rights at that time. A United Nations report carried out
between 1968 and 1969 underlined the potential presence of hydrocarbons in the islands. In 1971,
1
Uotsuri, Kitako-jima, Minamiko-jima, Kuba and Taisho
2
Okinokita-iwa, Okinomimami-iwa and Tobise
3
The warm current Kuroshio is similar to the Gulf Stream – it flows from the east coast of Taiwan to the northeast coast of Japan
4
IEA Key World Energy Statistics 2014
5
The term Terra Nullius describes territory which has never been subject to the sovereignty of any state

2. Adressed to the Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Topic – The Senkaku Islands
Japan and the US agreed that the sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands had to be sent back to Japan by
19726
. For the first time, China and Taiwan firmly voiced their discrepancies.
In 1978, our country signed a peace and friendship treaty with China that followed the 1972
release which had reestablished ‘normal‘ diplomatic relations between the two countries7
. Over these
years, the Senkaku Islands dispute had been ‘frozen’ by a tacit agreement. Since 1996, the Baodiao
Movement8
has been running symbolic actions in the disputed zone as the intrusions of Chinese boats
in our territorial waters. In 2010, China decided to suspend the exportations of rare earth elements to
Japan during a few weeks because our officials were keeping imprisoned the captain of a Chinese ship
that came to fish illegally around the Senkaku Islands9
. Last year, China violated our post-war aerial
space sending a maritime surveillance aircraft above the islands.
3. Diplomatic initiatives to solve the issue
The first initiative came in 1997 with a deal on a common administration of the fishing area
around the Senkaku Islands. 7 years later, the CNOOC started the exploitation of the Chunxiao natural
gas well located 4 kilometers away from our exclusive economic zone. A crucial step was overcame
the same year through an agreement about many gas fields – The drillings run by the CNOOC would
be financed by Japanese investors and resources would be shared on a fifty-fifty basis. Unfortunately,
this agreement has never been put into practice.
In 2010, China throw out the three-partite dialogue initiative including the United States. A
common fishing area in a 74000 km² zone was defined with Taiwan in 2013, even if China officially
disagreed in the meantime. In November 2014, President Xi Jinping and Prime Minister Abe met
outside the APEC summit meeting. Both acknowledged their stances but no one gave the slightest sign
of new initiative. Today, the dispute over the Senkaku Islands is deadlocked.
4. What should we do to preserve our interests ?
 Trade and Diplomacy - There is no discussion of accepting the smallest mediation
concerning our sovereignty in these islands because this would come to legitimate
the Chinese demands. The Montego Bay Convention rules in our favor since it has
been replacing the previous principle defined by the Geneva Convention in 1958. A
common resource management seems inevitable to break the deadlock. It would
allow us to reduce the energy bill hanging over the state budget already asphyxiated -
Japanese government debt is equal to 245% of GDP in 2014. Japan is the most
indebted country among the developed countries. This diplomatic initiative would also
preserve us from a deterioration of our economic relations. China remains our
largest trading partner. Our economies are highly interdependent10
- Japan benefits
from China’s raw materials and from the ongoing growth of the Chinese middle
6
The so-called 1971 Okinawa Reversion Agreement
7
Through this agreement, Japan acknowledged the People’s Republic of China as the ‘sole governement’ of China and putting aside Taiwan
8
Social movement in China that asserts the Chinese sovereignty on the Senkaku Islands
9
Rare earth elements are crucial for our companies because these raw materials used in the manufacture of wind turbines, plasma screens,
mobile phones or hybrid vehicles
10
20% of our exportations go to the Chinese market

3. Adressed to the Head of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan
Topic – The Senkaku Islands
classes who buy our products such as mobile phones, cars, computers, etc. We cannot
afford to put at risk the so-called ‘Abenomics’ because of a diplomatic crisis.
 Military - We have to keep the military support of the United States post-Obama
to contain the rise of China. Section 5 of the Security Treaty signed in 1960 with the
US gives us American military support if our territory were attacked. Japan has self-
Defense forces equipped with advanced technological11
means but China is investing
heavily to make up for lost ground12
. Its new first aircraft carrier launched in 2012
comes as a clear piece of evidence. The current tensions surrounding North Korea
prevents us to consider a revision of Article 9 of our Constitution without diplomatic
consequences contrary to our interests. The support of the United States allows us to
counter the Chinese veto on the UN Security Council, to dispose of the nuclear
deterrent and face the rapprochement between Russia and China.
 Public opinion – Past rivalry between our countries still remains strongly
widespread in the Japanese and Chinese societies. Most of our fellow citizens have
a relative who experienced the post-war atmosphere and got a strong bitterness about
the defeat of our country in the World War II. However, a 2006 opinion poll carried
out by one of the largest Japanese newspaper13
showed that more than a half of people
interviewed approved Prime Minister’s visit at the Yasukuni Shrine. Are our society
and politicians willing to accept a stop in these official visits ? Certainly not today,
even though such a decision would be a symbolical progress. It seems crucial that we
should spare Japan from going through useless tensions so that a win-win deal
over the Senkaku Islands be found in the future. Betting on a ‘frozen’ issue could be
a smart choice. Why ? Younger generations of politicians could have time to reach
key positions and bring fresh ideas on the table to solve the issue. And Japanese
people on a whole would accept better the idea of a new diplomatic era with China.
11
For example, our ships are equipped with the US Aegis Combat System which is an integrated naval weapons system
12
2014 China’s military budget is €94 billion (+12.2% versus 2013). 2014 Japan’s military budget is €35 billion
13
Nihon Keizai Shimbun