Taiwan’s Sovereignty Claim over the Diaoyutai Island Group (DIG) & the Proposed East China Sea Peace Initiative (ECSPI) Yann-huei Song Research Fellow Institute of European and American Studies/CAPAS Academia Sinica, Taipei Taiwan, R.O.C. 12. 2012 Maritime Disputes in the Asia-Pacific Region • For countries in the Asia-Pacific region, the cause for concern is the development trend of maritime activities conducted by the countries that border the Sea of Okhotsk, Sea of Japan, Yellow Sea, the East China Sea, the South China Sea, and the Indian Ocean. Potential Flashpoints in the Asia-Pacific Region ■ Kuril Islands/ Northern Territories ■ ■ Dokdo/Take- shima Diaoyutai DiaoyutaiIsland Group Paracel Islands ■ Scarborough Spratly Shoal Islands Potential Flashpoints in the Asia-Pacific Region Existing Disputes over Island Sovereignty and Maritime Rights • Southern Kuril Islands/Northern Territories Disputes (Russian Federation/Japan) • Dokdo/Takeshima (Korea and Japan) • Okinotorishima (Japan, China, Korea, and Taiwan） • Socotra/Suyan Rock/Ieodo （Korea and China) • Diaoyutai Island Group/Diaoyu Dao/Senkaku Islands (China, Japan, and Taiwan) • Paracel Islands (Vietnam, China, and Taiwan) • Scarborough Shoal （The Philippines, China, and Taiwan) • Spratly Islands (China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Brunei, Malaysia, and Taiwan) • EEZ and Continental Shelf Maritime Delimitation (The SCS and the ECS Bordering Countries) (Mainly involving with Mainland China, Japan, and Taiwan) Japan Tokyo Governor visited Okinotorishima Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara waved the Japanese national flag near the plate that declares "Okinotorishima, Japan" in Japanese after landing on Higashi Kojima, one of the two Okinotorishima islets, about 1,730 kilometers (1,070 miles) south of capital Tokyo, during an inspection tour in May 2005. No territorial dispute involved, But legal status of the land feature. Kuril Islands/Northern Territories Disputes (Russia and Japan) Russian Prime Minister Medvedev visited the Kuril Island of Kunashir in July 2012 to reinforce the Russian claim to the islands. The islands were occupied by Russia at the end of the second World War. Ever since Japan and Russia have been at loggerheads over the issue of ownership. Iturup (Russian: Итуруп)/Etorofu Island (Japanese: 択捉島, Etorofu-tō?) Kunashir (Russian: Кунашир)/Kunashiri Island (Japanese: 国後島, Kunashiri-tō?) Shikotan (Russian: Шикотан)/Shikotan Island (Japanese: 色丹島, Shikotan-tō?) Habomai rocks (Russian: острова Хабомаи ostrova Habomai)/Habomai Islands (Japanese: 歯 舞諸島, Habomai-shotō?) Dokdo/Takeshima (Korea and Japan) • ROK President Lee Myung- bak flew to Dokdo/ Takeshima in August 2012. • Japan recalled its ambassador from South Korea. • Both South Korea and Japan say they have a historical claim to the islands, and the issue has been a long-standing thorn in relations. Japan Tokyo Governor visited Okinotorishima Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara waved the Japanese national flag near the plate that declares "Okinotorishima, Japan" in Japanese after landing on Higashi Kojima, one of the two Okinotorishima islets, about 1,730 kilometers (1,070 miles) south of capital Tokyo, during an inspection tour in May 2005. No territorial dispute involved, But legal status of the land feature. President Ma visited Pengjia Islet in the East China Sea (7.Sept.2012) Unlikely to visit the Diaoyutai Island Group, but how about Taiping Dao (Itu Aba) in the South China Sea? 習近平接任中共總書 記與中央軍委主席 李克強任國務院總理 Xi Jinping visits Woody Island? The Development Goal of PRC • In a report to the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party by Hu Jintao, the PRC government explicitly outlined its policy to “resolutely safeguard China’s maritime rights and interests, and build China into a maritime power.” Japan’s Concern about PRC’s Maritime Activities • Japan is hoping that the development goal of PRC’s maritime policy will be achieved in accordance with international law and in harmony with neighboring nations. • While Japan is taking the view that the PRC appears to be attempting to make the practice of dispatching government vessels to the ECS and the SCS areas an everyday affair, and therefore change the status quo through coercion, the PRC government considers its assertive moves necessary, mainly in response to the assertive actions taken by other claimants in the ECS and the SCS, which change the status quo or break their political commitments under the agreement, such as Japan and PRC’s understanding reached in 1978; and Vietnam’s and the Philippines’ commitments made in 2002 under the Declaration on the Conduct of the Parties in the South China Sea (DOC). Are Certain Territories in the Asia Pacific Disputed or Not Disputed? • South Korea says that there is no dispute over Dokdo/Takeshima; Japan says YES, it is disputed. • Russia says that there is no dispute at all over Southern Kuril Islands/Northern Territories; Japan says, YES, it is disputed. • Japan says that Okinotorishima is an island, not a rock; PRC and ROK say no, it is not an island, but a rock, and therefore cannot generate a 200 nautical mile EEZ. • PRC says that there are no disputes over the Paracel Islands and Scarborough Shoal, but Vietnam and the Philippines say YES, they are disputed. • Japan says that there is no dispute over the DIG; PRC and ROC say YES, it is disputed. Why did Japan purchase three of the DIG in September 2012? • The objective was to minimize any adverse impact on the Japan-China relationship, according to Japanese Foreign Minisiter Koichiro Gemba. • According to Japan, there is no doubt that the DIG are an inherent part of Japan, as evidenced by both historical facts and international law. • Japan insists that it cannot make any concessions where sovereignty is concerned. • Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara announced his intention in April 2012 to buy and develop facilities on the islands. Purchasing the islands instead was the only viable and best option available to the government of Japan to protect bilateral relations, argued by the Japanese government. • Is this position acceptable? In fact, Japanese government’s decision to nationalize the DIG has more profound negative effect than Ishihara’s plan. • (Koichiro Gemba, Foreign Minister of Japan, “Japan-China Relations at a Crossroads,” The International Herald Tribune, 21 November 2012) Why does not Japan refer the issue to the International Court of Justice? • This is a question that is often wrongly directed toward Japan. It is Japan that has valid control over the DIG under international law, and it is China that is seeking to challenge the status quo. The question should be posed to China. • Japan has accepted the jurisdiction of the I.C.J. as compulsory. Since China is undertaking various campaigns to promote their assertions in international forums, it seems to make sense for China to seek a solution based on international law. • Why don’t they show any signs of accepting the jurisdiction of the I.C.J. as compulsory and taking their arguments to the I.C.J.? (Japan admits that there involves dispute over the DIG first). (Koichiro Gemba, Foreign Minister of Japan, “Japan-China Relations at a Crossroads,” The International Herald Tribune, 21 November 2012) The DIG in the ECS: Disputed or Not Disputed? • It is difficult to accept Japan’s position that the DIG is not disputed. • If Japan insists that there is no territorial dispute over the DIG, why did the U.S. government return only the administrative rights to Japan, but not ownership (sovereignty), in accordance with the 1971 Okinawa Reversion Treaty? • Apparently there is a key difference between “Administration” and “Sovereignty”. Treaty of Shimonoseki Signed at Shimonoseki 17 April 1895 Entered into Force 8 May 1895 by the exchange of the instruments of ratification Article 2 China cedes to Japan in perpetuity and full sovereignty the following territories, together with all fortifications, arsenals, and public property thereon:— (b) The island of Formosa [Taiwan], together with all islands appertaining or belonging to the said island of Formosa. (Emphasis added) (Note: The DIG are appertained to Taiwan) 1945 Potsdam Declaration • Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, Issued at Potsdam, 26 July 1945 • 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. 1951 San Francisco Peace Treaty Articles 2 (b) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to Formosa [Taiwan] and the Pescadores. (c) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin and the islands adjacent to it over which Japan acquired sovereignty as a consequence of the Treaty of Portsmouth of September 5, 1905. (f) Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Spratly Islands and to the Paracel Islands. Japan’s Basic View on the Sovereignty over the DIG/Senkaku Islands • From 1885 on, surveys of the DIG had been thoroughly made by the Government of Japan through the agencies of Okinawa Prefecture and by way of other methods. Through these surveys, it was confirmed that the DIG had been uninhabited and showed no trace of having been under the control of Qing China. • Based on this confirmation, the Government of Japan made a Cabinet Decision on 14 January 1895 to erect a marker on the Islands to formally incorporate the DIG into the territory of Japan. Japan’s Territorial Claim Based on “Incomplete Surveys” and “WRONG CONFIRMATION” • Following the first on-site survey, in 1885, the Japanese foreign minister wrote, “Chinese newspapers have been reporting rumors of our intention of occupying islands belonging to China located next to Taiwan.… At this time, if we were to publicly place national markers, this must necessarily invite China’s suspicion.…” • In November 1885, the Okinawa governor confirmed “since this matter is not unrelated to China, if problems do arise I would be in grave repentance for my responsibility”.