Introduction
My personal impression on the relationship between Japan and Taiwan is quite good but quite unfair. The human interaction between Taiwan and Japan is stably active every year as you can see in the Figure 1. Taiwanese people are really nice to Japanese people. For further understanding of Taiwan, I would like to focus on the Japan-Taiwan relations in terms of the fight over the ownership of Senkaku islands/ Diaoyutai. Even though on September in 2010, there was a huge conflict between Japan and mainland China, where a fishing ship of mainland China hit the ships of Japan Coast Guard, I am not going to talk about this incident in this paper.
Figure 1
Figure 1: transitional change of human interaction. The number of Japanese people who have visited Taiwan and Taiwanese people who have visited Japan (Interchange Association, Japan (IAJ), 2011).
A recent Incident near Senkaku
On June 29, an incident happened near the Senkaku islands (Searchina, 2011). According to Asahi Shinbun, in the morning of June 29th, two Taiwanese activists of the ROC Association of Protect Diaoyutai(中華保釣協會)who have been claiming Taiwan’s sovereignty over Senkaku islands, rode on a fishing ship ”Dafa 268” and came really close to the islands. Japan Coast Guard found the ship and gave them a warning. After that, the ship returned its way. There were no troubles at that time. Yet, this created tension between Japan and Taiwan (The Asahi Shinbun Company, June 29, 2011).
2011 is the 40th year of Chinese people’s protest movements over the Senkaku issue. Therefore, it is an important milestone in their activities. They once considered Japan’s present situation which was severely damaged by the earthquake in this March, but they changed their mind later on and still camenear Senkaku islands to mount a protest (The Asahi Shinbun Company, June 29, 2011).
Brief Historical Background of Senkaku
After the First Sino-Japanese War from 1894 to ’95, “the Government of Japan made a Cabinet Decision on January 14th, 1895 to erect a marker on the Islands to formally incorporate the Senkaku Islands into the territory of Japan (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan” (MOFA of Japan), 2011). In 1969, the Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (ECAFE) conducted a survey on the bottom of the ocean and found out that the seabed near the Senkaku Islands were full of resources (All About, March 29, 2003). This was the trigger of the Sovereignty issue over the Senkaku Islands. In 1971, the government of the Republic of China (ROC), which was still a legitimate Chinese government in the international society, officially declared Taiwan’s sovereignty over the Senkaku islands (All About, March 29, 2003).
Stances of Japanese Government and Taiwanese Government
Japanese government’s stance toward this issue is that there is no territorial issue because Senkaku Islands are legitimately included to Japanese territories. Japanese government insists that the US have also mentioned that they returned the Senkaku islands as Japan’s territory when they returned Okinawa (Yahoo Japan Corporation, 2011). This is the Japanese government’s official declaration about the Sovereignty over the Senkaku Islands.
These islands were neither part of Taiwan nor part of the Pescadores Islands which were ceded to Japan from the Qing Dynasty of China in accordance with Article II of the Treaty of Shimonoseki which came into effect in May of 1895.
Accordingly, the Senkaku Islands are not included in the territory which Japan renounced under Article II of the San Francisco Peace Treaty. The Senkaku Islands have been placed under the administration of the United States of America as part of the Nansei Shoto Islands, in accordance with Article III of the said treaty, and are included in the area, the administrative rights over which were reverted to Japan in accordance with the Agreement Between Japan and the United States of America Concerning the Ryukyu Islands and the Daito Islands signed on 17 June 1971. The facts outlined herein clearly indicate the status of the Senkaku Islands being part of the territory of Japan. (MOFA of Japan, 2011).
On the other hand, Taiwanese government officially asserted that Senkaku Islands’ territory and sovereignty belong to the Republic of China. Taiwan government rose geographical, terrestrial formation, long-term-use (over 100 years) of the sea area near Senkaku, and historical approach to insist on the sovereignty over Senkaku Islands.
Figure 2
Figure 2: Senkaku Islands are the territory of the Republic of China. Geographically, they are Taiwanese associated islands, and belong to Ilan County (MOFA, Taiwan, 2011).
Conclusion
As the previous information shows, Japan’s position is backed by some international treaties. On the other hand, Taiwan’s position pretty much depends on how they look at the history and their opinions are not legitimate enough based on the international law. Therefore, Taiwan’s opinion is taken as far-fetched story in the international society.
Since mainly three nations: Japan, Taiwan and mainland China are claiming their sovereignty over the Senkaku islands, There are contradictions for Taiwan toward this issue. Because Taiwan is now suffering from the cross-strait relationship with China, Taiwan cannot cooperate with China on this issue, for the reason that Taiwanese sovereignty might be invaded. It seems like Taiwan cannot strongly or violently approach this issue because the relationship with Japan might get worse. Taiwan is economically relying on Japan and not only on China as it was the case decades ago. When I looked at the President’s comments about this issue between Japan, I got an impression that he is relatively rational and calm to talk about it (Office of the President Republic of China (Taiwan), Oct 8, 2008). Thus the Senkaku issue is very complicated since it is not only about Japan-Taiwan relationship but also China-Taiwan, Japan-China relationship, and even Japan-US relationship too.
I am not a politically correct person, so I am not really sure about what is right about this issue. However, I personally have a deep emotional attachment to Taiwan and Taiwanese people, so hopefully they can solve this problem in a more peaceful and friendly way in the future.
Reference
Interchange Association, Japan (IAJ). (2011). 日台関係. Retrieved July 15, 2011, from
http://www.koryu.or.jp/ez3_contents.nsf/12/F3CE8A140E14BA4649257737002B2217?OpenDocument
All About. (2003.03.29) 尖閣諸島問題の基礎知 Retrieved July 19, 2011, from
http://focus.allabout.co.jp/gm/gc/293247/?from=dailynews.yahoo.co.jp
Yahoo Japan Corporation. (2011) What the Senkaku issue is. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from
http://dailynews.yahoo.co.jp/fc/domestic/senkaku/
Ministry of Foreign affairs of Japan. (2011). The Basic View on the Sovereignty over the
Senkaku Islands. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from
http://www.mofa.go.jp/mofaj/area/senkaku/index.html
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of China (TAIWAN). (2009). Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.mofa.gov.tw/webapp/ct.asp?xItem=40531&ctNode=2038&mp=1
Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of China (TAIWAN). (February, 2003).The ROC government reiterates its sovereignty over the Tiaoyutai Islands. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.mofa.gov.tw/webapp/ct.asp?xItem=7843&ctNode=1903&mp=6
Searchina. (2011). 尖閣で「あわや衝突」、台湾活動家の漁船と日本巡視船が＝中国. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://news.searchina.ne.jp/disp.cgi?y=2011&d=0701&f=politics_0701_005.shtml
The Asahi Shinbun Company. (June 29, 2011). 台湾活動家の船、尖閣海域に入る 警告受け引き返す. Retrieved July 19, 2011, from http://www.asahi.com/international/update/0629/TKY201106290602.html
Office of the President Republic of China (Taiwan). (Oct 8,2008). 總統接受日本「世界雜誌」專訪, Retrieved July 21, 2011, from
http://www.president.gov.tw/Default.aspx?tabid=131&itemid=14246&rmid=514
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