A REBUTTAL TO CHINA’S FRAUDULENT CLAIMS ON THE SENKAKU ISLANDS
By SHIMOJO Masao,
Abstract
Abstract:A REBUTTAL TO CHINA’S FRAUDULENT CLAIMS ON THE SENKAKU ISLANDS
On December 30, 2014, the PRC’s State Oceanic Administration launched a website entitled “Diaoyu Dao: The Inherent Territory of China.” The site is China’s platform for its claims on the Senkaku Islands, which the Chinese call “Diaoyu Dao and its affiliated islands”.
However, the historical perception and the State Oceanic Administration’s website are utterly flawed, which maintain that the Senkaku Islands are an integral part of China, and that they are islands affiliated with Taiwan. The creators of the website do not offer any evidence supporting these claims.
The mere appearance of the so-called Daioyu Dao in a written work is not definitive proof that the Senkaku Islands were Chinese territory several hundred years before Japan discovered them. To prove that the islands were under Chinese jurisdiction at that time, the Chinese must establish that Taiwan was an integral part of Ming China in official regional topographical works like Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Ming Dynasty or official histories such as History of the Ming Dynasty. These classic works, however, do not at all support the ludicrous contentions of the PRC.
It was the Qing Dynasty that incorporated Taiwan, but official documents, such as the Comprehensive Gazetteer of the Great Qing Real, show that the Senkaku Islands were never a part of Taiwan. Thus, the very basis of the Chinese claim that the Senkaku Islands belonged to Qing China is completely shattered.
The current article verifies the facts based on key Chinese historical documents.