Senkaku Island

On 7 June 2024, Japan protested Beijing after four armed Chinese coastguard vessels entered the waters of the Senkaku island, which Tokyo considers its territory.

About Senkaku Island

The Senkaku Islands dispute, or Diaoyu Islands dispute, is a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands known as:

• the Senkaku Islands in Japan, 
• the Diaoyu Islands in China, and 
• the Tiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan.
• Both Japan and China claim ownership of these islands.

Location of Senkaku Island: The Senkaku Islands are located in the East China Sea between Japan, China, and Taiwan. 

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Geography: the Senkaku chain comprises five islets – Uotsuri Island, Kuba Island, Taisho Island, Kitakojima Island, and Minamikojima Island – and three rocks – Tobise Island, Okinokitaiwa Island, and Okinominamiiwa Island 

Strategic Significane of Location of Senkaku Island

The islands are close to strategically important shipping lanes, offer rich fishing grounds, and are thought to contain oil deposits.

Japanese Claim On Senkaku Island

• In January 1895, after carefully ascertaining that there had been no trace of control over the Senkaku Islands by another state before that period,
• The government of Japan incorporated the islands into the Japanese territory by lawful means under the international legal framework that existed at that time.
• After World War II, the San Francisco Peace Treaty placed the Senkaku Islands under the administration of the United States as part of Okinawa, thereby reaffirming the islands’ status as part of Japanese territory.

Chinese Claim On Senkaku Island

The official position of the PRC is that ‘Diaoyu Dao is China’s inherent territory in all historical, geographical and legal terms,’ according to historical evidence of the islands being administered as part of Taiwan since the Ming and Qing dynasties.

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