Evidence shows Diaoyu Dao is China's territory

II

Japan said that China had not made a claim of sovereignty over Diaoyu Dao until the early 1970s. But what was the real situation in history?

Diaoyu Dao has been China's inherent territory since ancient times. It was marked as part of Chinese territory and administered as affiliated island of Taiwan as early as in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At the end of the 19th century, Japan grabbed Diaoyu Dao during the Sino-Japanese War and forced the Qing government to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki and cede to Japan "the island of Formosa (Taiwan), together with all islands appertaining or belonging to the said island of Formosa". That included Diaoyu Dao. In December 1941, the Chinese government officially declared war against Japan, together with the abrogation of all treaties between China and Japan. In December 1943, the Cairo Declaration stated in explicit terms that "all the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as Manchuria, Formosa (Taiwan) and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other territories which she has taken by violence and greed." In July 1945, the Potsdam Proclamation stated in Article 8: "The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine." On Sept 2, 1945, the Japanese government accepted the Potsdam Proclamation in explicit terms with the Japanese Instrument of Surrender and pledged to faithfully fulfill the obligations enshrined in the provisions of the Potsdam Proclamation. On Oct 25, 1945, the ceremony for accepting Japan's surrender in Taiwan Province of the China War Theater was held in Taipei, and the Chinese government officially recovered Taiwan. China has all along stressed that Japan should, in accordance with international legal documents such as the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, return to China all territories it has stolen from China, and that naturally includes Diaoyu Dao.

On Sept 8, 1951, Japan, the United States and a number of other countries signed the Treaty of Peace with Japan (commonly known as the Treaty of San Francisco) from which China was excluded. The Chinese government has always been opposed to such a treaty. Before the treaty was signed, Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai made a solemn statement: "If the People's Republic of China is excluded from the preparation, formulation and signing of the peace treaty with Japan, it will, no matter what its content and outcomes are, be regarded as illegal and therefore invalid by the central people's government." After the treaty was signed, Foreign Minister Zhou Enlai made another statement on Sept 18, 1951: "The peace treaty with Japan, signed arbitrarily by the US government at the San Francisco Conference without participation of the People's Republic of China, is illegal and invalid and could under no circumstances be recognized by the central people's government." The statement made it very clear that China has never recognized any provision of the Treaty of San Francisco regarding Chinese territory. That naturally included Diaoyu Dao. This position of China applies too to subsequent illegal US acquisition of trusteeship and transfer of Diaoyu Dao to Japan following the Treaty of San Francisco. All this serves to show that China's sovereignty claim over Diaoyu Dao is consistent and clear-cut. It has never changed, not even a bit.

In the current round of "media offensive", Japan has tried to play up isolated arguments that are seemingly in its favor. For instance, Japan has repeatedly stressed the point that Diaoyu Dao was marked as part of Japan's Okinawa in the 1958 and 1960 editions of the World Atlas published in China.

Since maps have been mentioned, we also want to devote adequate part of this article to facts related to maps.

The Roadmap to Ryukyu (Liu Qiu Guo Hai Tu) in the Record of the Imperial Title-Conferring Envoys to Ryukyu (Shi Liu Qiu Lu) written by imperial title-conferring envoy Xiao Chongye in 1579 (the seventh year of the reign of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty), the Record of the Interpreters of August Ming (Huang Ming Xiang Xu Lu) written by Mao Ruizheng in 1629 (the second year of the reign of Emperor Chongzhen of the Ming Dynasty), the Great Universal Geographic Map (Kun Yu Quan Tu) created in 1767 (the 32nd year of the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty), and the Atlas of the Great Qing Dynasty (Huang Chao Zhong Wai Yi Tong Yu Tu) published in 1863 (the second year of the reign of Emperor Tongzhi of the Qing Dynasty) all marked Diaoyu Dao as China's territory.

The book Illustrated Outline of the Three Countries written by Hayashi Shihei in 1785 was the earliest Japanese literature to mention Diaoyu Dao. The Map of the Three Provinces and 36 Islands of Ryukyu in the book put Diaoyu Dao as being apart from the 36 islands of Ryukyu and colored it the same as the mainland of China, indicating that Diaoyu Dao was considered part of China's territory. Besides, the Maps and Names of Provinces and Cities in Japan published in 1892 did not mark Diaoyu Dao as part of Japanese territory.

The Map of East China Sea Littoral States created by the French cartographer Pierre Lapie and others in 1809 colored Diaoyu Dao, Huangwei Yu and Chiwei Yu the same as the Island of Taiwan. Maps such as A New Map of China from the Latest Authorities published in Britain in 1811, Colton's China published in the United States in 1859, and A Map of China's East Coast: Hongkong to Gulf of Liao-Tung compiled by the British Navy in 1877 all marked Diaoyu Dao as part of Chinese territory.

One particular edition of a map cannot be taken out of its context and used as evidence to reject the position of a government on issues concerning territory. This is common sense. The World Atlas editions cited by Japan that marked Diaoyu Dao as part of Japan's Okinawa clearly identified their sources of reference as being map archives of the pre-Anti-Japanese War Shen-pao (Shanghai News). That was the time when Diaoyu Dao was under Japan's colonial rule. Under international law, a particular edition of a map does not constitute the basis for claiming one's own rights or negating those of others. Therefore, Japan's argument that Diaoyu Dao is Japanese territory on the basis of the map in question is not at all convincing. In fact, many Japanese maps published before the 1970s did not mark Diaoyu Dao as part of Japan.

Japan's manner of treating such untenable evidence like a rare treasure and its attempt to make much out of it shows that Japan has exhausted itself and still could find little legal basis for its sovereignty claim over Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands.

Why was Japan put in such an awkward position? It is very clear. A country may dream wild dreams about waging wars of aggression and enslaving the Asian people. A country may develop illusions that it can whitewash its historical crimes with a wrong approach to history and become a "normal country" to be respected by other countries around the world. But in no way can historical facts be fabricated. A country that dares to challenge historical facts is dishonest and extremely dangerous. The international community should really watch out for such a country.