The Island dispute between China & Japan ‐ Saturday, 10 November 2012, 13:00 ‐ 17:00; ‐ Saturday, 24 November 2012, 13:00 ‐ 17:00. Address: Imperial Palace Vienna ("Hofburg/Stallburg")A‐1010 VIENNA, Reitschulgasse 2/2nd floor(corner Josefsplatz ‐ Bruner Str.). V i enna M odel U n ited N a tions C lub The Island dispute between China & Japan Brief summary of the dispute The Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu Islands in mainland China; andTiaoyutai Islands in Taiwan) are a groupof uninhabited islands controlled by Japan in the East China Sea. After it was discovered in 1968 that oil reserves might be found under the sea near the islands, Japan's sovereignty over them has been disputed by the People's Republic of China (PRC) and the Republic of China (ROC, commonly known as Taiwan) following the transfer of administration from the United States to Japan in 1971. The Chinese claim the discovery and control of the islands from the 14th century. Japan controlled the islands from 1895 until its surrender at the end of World War II. The United States administered them as part of the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands from 1945 until 1972, when the islands reverted to Japanese control under the Okinawa Reversion Treaty between the United States and Japan. The People's Republic and Taiwan claim that the islands have been a part of Chinese territory since at least 1534. They acknowledge that Japan took control of the islands in 1894–1895 during the first Sino-Japanese War, through the signature of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. They assert that thePotsdam Declaration (which Japan accepted as part of the San Francisco Peace Treaty) required that Japan relinquish control of all islands except for "the islands of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine", and they state that this means control of the islands should pass to China.. Japan has rejected claims that the islands were under China's control prior to 1895, and that these islands were contemplated by the Potsdam Declaration or affected by the San Francisco Peace Treaty. Despite the complexity of relations between the PRC and ROC, both governments agree that the islands are part of Taiwan as part of Toucheng Township in Yilan County of their respective divisions. Japan does not officially recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state, and regards the islands as a part of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture and acknowledges neither the claims of the PRC nor ROC to the islands. Japan does not accept that there is a dispute, asserting that the islands are an integral part of Japan The Japanese government has not allowed Ishigaki to develop the islands. 2 | Page Escalation of the Conflict The dispute of the islands has already resulted in military enforcement on both sides. Japan had numerous military drills with the United States and other of its allies in the last years. As a response of the islands disputes, Japan and the US conducted military training for island defense in the American island of Guam. In a move that signals how the two allies are adjusting their defense cooperation to counter Beijing's growing territorial ambitions in the Western Pacific, troops from Japan's Ground Self Defense Force since mid-August have been receiving training on amphibious military tactics from the U.S. Marine Corps. In response China held naval exercises in the East China Sea today and presented their military force, to warn regional rivals against escalating territorial disputes. China regularly holds maritime drills in the fall, but sources close to the military said the drills were related to the islands territorial dispute. The situation got worse whenChina's Ministry of Defense announced in late September that China has sent its first aircraft carrier into formal service said the newly named Liaoning aircraft carrier would raise the overall operational strength of the Chinese navy and help Beijing to effectively protect national sovereignty, security and development interests. In fact, the aircraft carrier, refitted from a ship bought from the Ukraine, will play a minor role, mostly for training and testing ahead of the possible launch of China's first domestically built carriers after 2015, analysts say. The Pentagon played down the event, with spokesman George Little telling a briefing that the United States was monitoring China's development of its military but noted: "This wasn't a particular surprise." The US responded in by extending the service of the U.S. Naval Forces, U.S. 7th Fleetand other operating forces, in Yokosuka, Japan, which are assigned in the Western Pacific due to its enormous strategic importance. 3 | Page EARLY period •firstrecords:15thcentury, Voyage with a Tail Wind (1403) •first published description of the islands in Europe: a book imported bby Isaac Titsingh in 1796 •The collective use of the name "Senkaku" began with the advent of thecontroversyinthe 1970s Japanese and USA control •The Japanese central government formally annexed the islands on 14 January 1895 •Around 1900, Koga Tatsushirō bonito processing plant, failed in 1940 •1970s Koga Tatsushirō`s son sold the four islets to the Kurihara family •1945 USA occupationafterthesurrender of Japan ended WWII •1969ECAFEidentifiedpotentialoiland gas reserves •1971 the Okinawa Reversion Treaty passed the U.S. Senate, returning the islands to Japanese control •1972 the Taiwanese and Chinese governments officially began to declare ownership of the islands •1979 an official delegation from the Japanese government surveyed the local ecosystem and examined whether the islands would support human habitation MODERN period •2002 ‐ 2012, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan paid the Kurihara family ¥25 million a year to rent Uotsuri •17 /12/ 2010, Ishigaki declared January 14 as "Pioneering Day" to commemorate Japan's 1895 annexation of the Senkaku Islands. China condemned Ishigaki's actions. •2012, both the Tokyo Metropolitan and Japanese central governments announced plans to negotiate purchase of Uotsuri, Kita‐Kojima, and Minami‐Kojima from the Kurihara family. •11 / 09 / 2012, the Japanese government nationalized its control over Minamikojima, Kitakojima, and Uotsuri islands by purchasing them from the Kurihara family for ¥2.05 billion. China's Foreign Ministry objected saying Beijing would not "sit back and watch its territorial sovereignty violated." On 8 August, after a meeting between the Japanese Defense Minister and the American Defense Secretary, it was announced that UAVs would be used to conduct surveillance around Okinawa, which will include the Senkaku Islands. •15 / 08/ 2012 ships carrying activists from Hong Kong approached the islands, but were stopped by the Japan Coast Guard. •18 / 08/ 2012 150 Japanese activists arrived at the islands to commemorate Japanese World War II deaths in the area. When the activists were denied permission to land, severaal of them swam to the islands and made an unauthorized landing on Uotsuri, where they raised Japanese flags. 4 | Pag e UN Involvement and Previous UN‐Actions The dispute between China and Japan surrounding the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands is unprecedented for the Security Council, however in light of recent events there is an imminent danger that the situation might escalate to a degree that threatens the stability of the entire region. It is necessary to note that, China’s powers in the Security Council regarding this dispute are somewhat limited, due to the provisions of Article 27 of the UN Charter. As such, decisions of the Security Council on substantial matters shall be made by an affirmative vote of nine members including the concurring votes of the permanent members; provided that, in decisions under Chapter VI, and under paragraph 3 of Article 52, a party to a dispute shall abstain from voting Today, it is the potential for energy resources that fuels Japan-China disagreement over the waters of the East China Sea. Ever since the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) survey of the East China and Yellow Seas in the late 1960s suggested that a vast deposit of hydrocarbon resources were to be found on or near the continental shelf that stretches off the Chinese coast in Asia, the waters shared by China, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan have become the focus of dispute. Moreover, the UNCLOS creation of exclusive economic zones renders the interactions of these Northeast Asia powers more contentious as the definition of where territorial waters end and the 200 nautical mile EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone, i.e. a sea zone prescribed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea over which a state has special rights over the exploration and use of marine resources, including energy production from water and wind) areas begin depends on who owns the islands that populate the East China Sea. Thus, the status of the Senkaku islands reflects more than a historical dispute over ownership. The territorial dispute, which burgeoning in the 1970s, as the U.S. occupation of the Ryukyu Islands of Japan ended and as Chinese relations with both the United States and Japan improved, also reflected the intensification of claims over the potential seabed resources that resided under the East China Sea. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) introduced a new dimension to the territorial claims in the East China Sea. Discussion over how to define the proper demarcation of maritime boundaries 5 | Page raised arguments for basing claims based on the geological characteristics of the seabed below, and all countries of East Asia had a stake in this discussion. Japan’s claims were based on a negotiated median line between the territorial waters of China and Japan. UNCLOS allows for China and Japan’s respective EEZs to extend for 200 nautical miles, but the width of the East China Sea is only 360 nautical miles, necessitating a median line (UNCLOS, Part II, Article 15).
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