A long running territorial territorial dispute has raised its head once again with two incidents of opposing Chinese and Japanese activists making unauthorized landings on Uotsuri island, between the Japanese island of Okinawa and Taiwan.
s part of a chain of uninhabited islets known by the Japanese as the Senkaku Islands, Uotsuri has been at the centre of a dispute between Japan and China since administration was transferred from the United States to Japan in 1971. The islands were first claimed by the Japanese 1895 and remained under their control until the end of World War II, when administration was temporarily handed to the Americans.
The People’s Republic of China claim that the islands, which they refer to as the Diaoyutai, have constituted Chinese territory since at least 1534 and that the Japanese are mandated to renounce their ownership under the terms of their 1945 surrender.
In the latest in a series of tit for tat diplomatic incidents, a group of Hong Kong activists landed on Uotsuri in order to highlight what they perceived as Japan’s illegal occupation of the territory. The protesters were arrested by Japanese authorities on the grounds of breach of immigration laws but, in a move seemingly calculated to avoid an international incident, quickly released from custody and deported. Several days later, however, a small group of Japanese activists staged a counter protest by landing on the island and unfurling Japanese flags, prompting violent anti-Japanese protest in Chinese cities.
a small group of Japanese activists staged a counter protest by landing on the island and unfurling Japanese flags, prompting violent anti-Japanese protest in Chinese cities.
The islands are of no strategic value and have been entirely uninhabited for over a century. While there is evidence that natural gas deposits may exist in the surrounding waters, the Japanese government has consistently blocked all attempts to survey the area. In spite of this apparent lack of value the dispute seems set to continue; the Japanese government are currently attempting to negotiate the purchase of several privately owned islands in the chain in a bid to strengthen their claims to sovereignty
by Sam Jones
