Senkaku Islands

Japanese: 尖閣諸島 - せんかくしょとう

A group of uninhabited small islands scattered about 160km north of Iriomote Island in the Ryukyu Islands. Also known as the Senkaku Islands. All of them are volcanic islands that erupted through the Tertiary layer. In addition to the largest island, Uotsuri Island ( ^3.82km2 ), there are Kuba Island (Koubi Sho), Taisho Island (Akao Sho), Minamikojima Island, and Kitakojima Island (5 Senkaku Islands). They belong to Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture. Seabirds live there, and the surrounding area is a good fishing ground for bonito. China claims sovereignty over the islands over the development of underwater resources on the continental shelf, including the waters around the islands, but the Japanese government has consistently maintained that there is no "territorial issue" in the area. Japan has effective control over the islands, and in 2002 the government leased private land on three islands, including Uotsuri Island (known as Diaoyu Island in China), and in 2005 announced that the lighthouse on Uotsuri Island would become national property. China regards the East China Sea, including the islands, as a core national interest, and its air and naval forces have repeatedly engaged in acts that appear to be demonstrations of force, raising tensions. On September 7, 2010, a Chinese fishing boat in Japanese territorial waters ignored an order from a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat and attempted to escape by ramming the boat. The Japan Coast Guard arrested the captain of the Chinese fishing boat, and the boat and crew were sent to Ishigaki Island for questioning (the crew except for the captain were released and returned to Japan, and the boat was returned). The Chinese government repeatedly made strong protests to Japan over the captain's indictment and detention, which developed into a diplomatic issue, and various countermeasures and retaliatory measures were implemented. Anti-Japanese demonstrations were organized in China, and some even raised the radical slogan "Reclaim the Ryukyus." On September 24, the Naha District Public Prosecutors Office released the captain with charges pending, and he returned to Japan before dawn on the 25th. In April 2012, Shintaro Ishihara, then governor of Tokyo, announced plans for Tokyo to purchase the islands from the landowners, and Tokyo began collecting donations for the Senkaku Islands, forcing the Democratic Party of Japan and Noda administration to express its stance. In September 2012, the Noda administration decided for the national government to purchase the islands from the landowners and nationalize them, with Chief Cabinet Secretary Fujimura explaining the reason for nationalization as "because peaceful and stable maintenance would become impossible if a third party were to purchase them." However, the Chinese government reacted strongly to the Japanese government's nationalization decision, and large-scale anti-Japanese demonstrations broke out in various places, resulting in tensions between Japan and China that are said to be the worst since the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Since then, Chinese government vessels, including patrol ships, have repeatedly entered and left the territorial waters and contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands, and as of April 2015, the situation remains the same. In May 2013, the People's Daily, the organ of the Chinese Communist Party, published an article by a researcher from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which claimed that "the issue of the sovereignty of the Ryukyu Islands has historically remained unresolved, and the time has come to discuss it again," that "the Ryukyu Kingdom was a vassal state of China that paid tribute to the Ming and Qing dynasties (in reality it was a vassal state of both), and that "if we take this as supporting evidence, the Senkaku Islands are an inherent part of China's territory," announcing a view that denies Japan's ownership of Okinawa itself. Although the Chinese government officially says that scholars are free to express their opinions, this shows that there is a view within the Chinese Communist Party that the scope of China's territorial claims includes the islands' sovereignty to the Great Qing Empire, and this has attracted international attention. Taiwan, which has also claimed the islands, has prioritized negotiations on the Japan-Taiwan Fisheries Agreement and has responded differently from China. While the US government has declared its neutrality on the territorial issue, it has repeatedly stated that the islands are included within the scope of the Japan-US Security Treaty, thereby restraining China's actions. However, even after the return of Okinawa to Japan, the United States has maintained exclusive control over Kuba Island and Taisho Island as a firing range for the U.S. military, and it is clear that the United States has not taken a "neutral stance on territorial issues." →Territorial issues/Senkaku video issue/Shirakaba gas field →Related topicsAsia | Shinzo Abe | Ishigaki [city] | Shintaro Ishihara | Wang Yi | Naoto Kan Cabinet | Fisheries | Kono Statement | Sakishima Islands | East China Sea | Murayama Statement | Rare earths

Source : Heibonsha Encyclopedia About MyPedia Information

Japanese:

琉球諸島のうち，西表(いりおもて)島の北方約160kmに点在する無人の小島群。尖閣列島とも。いずれも第三紀層を貫いて噴出した火山島で，最大の魚釣島（3.82km²）のほか久場島（黄尾(こうび)礁），大正島（赤尾礁），南小島，北小島（尖閣５島）などがあり，沖縄県石垣市に属する。海鳥が生息，付近はカツオの好漁場。同諸島周辺海域を含む大陸棚の海底資源開発をめぐり，中国は同諸島の領有権を主張しているが，日本政府は同地域に〈領土問題〉は存在しないという立場で一貫している。日本が実効支配しており，2002年政府は魚釣島（中国名・釣魚島）など３島の民有地を借り上げ，また2005年には魚釣島の灯台を国有財産とすると発表した。中国は同諸島を含む東シナ海を，国家核心利益と位置づけ中国の空海軍が示威(じい)行為とみられる行為を繰り返し，緊張が高まった。2010年９月７日，日本領海内で中国漁船が海上保安庁の巡視船の退去命令を無視し体当たりして逃走を図る事件が起きた。海上保安庁は，中国漁船長を逮捕し，同船および船員も石垣島に回航され事情聴取を受けた（船長を除く船員は釈放帰国，同船も返還）。船長の送検・拘留をめぐって中国政府は日本に強硬な抗議を繰り返し，外交問題に発展，さまざまな対抗・報復措置を発動，中国国内でも反日デモが組織され，反日デモには〈琉球奪還〉という過激なスローガンを掲げるものまで現れた。９月24日那覇地方検察庁は船長を処分保留で釈放，25日未明帰国した。2012年４月，石原慎太郎東京都知事（当時）が，同島を東京都が地権者から購入する計画を発表，東京都尖閣諸島寄付金募集を開始し民主党・野田政権の態度表明を迫った。2012年９月野田政権は国が同諸島を地権者から購入し国有化することを決定，藤村官房長官は〈第三者が購入することにより，平穏かつ安定的な維持管理ができなくなくなるからである〉として国有化の理由を説明した。しかし，日本政府の国有化決定に中国政府は猛烈に反発，各地で大規模な反日デモが起こるなど，日中国交正常化以降最悪といわれる日中の緊張状態が現出した。以後尖閣諸島水域の領海や接続水域に監視船など中国公船の出入りを繰り返す事態を続け，2015年４月段階でも同様の状態が続いている。2013年５月，中国共産党機関誌《人民日報》は，〈琉球の帰属問題は歴史的に未解決，再び議論できるときが来た〉，〈琉球王国は明・清朝に朝貢していた中国の属国（実際は両属）〉，〈これを傍証とすれば魚釣島は中国固有の領土〉と主張する中国社会科学院の研究者による論文を掲載，日本による沖縄の領有そのものを否定する見解を発表した。中国政府は表向きは学者の意見発表は自由，としているが，中国共産党内に中国の領土的主張の範囲が大清帝国への帰属関係までをも含むものとする見解があることを示しており，国際的に注目された。同じく同島の領有を主張してきた台湾は，日台漁業協定交渉を優先させ，中国とは異なる対応を見せている。米国政府は領土問題に関しては中立を表明しつつ，同島が日米安保協定の範囲に含まれることを再々表明し，中国の行動を牽制(けんせい)している。しかし，米国は沖縄返還以降も今日に至るまで，久場島，大正島を米軍射爆場として排他的管理の下に置いたままであり，そもそも〈領土問題に関して中立の立場〉でないことは明らかである。→領土問題／尖閣ビデオ問題／白樺ガス田
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