People who are not even interested in politics have repeatedly heard the name Senkaku. Indeed, for this tiny archipelago, the total area of the islands of which is only about 7 square kilometers, there is a tense territorial dispute between the People's Republic of China and Japan. In addition, the island of Taiwan, which is considered an independent state of the Republic of China, claims its rights to this archipelago.
Location and history of the Senkaku Archipelago
The archipelago with such a beautiful name as Senkaku is located in the East China Sea, 170 kilometers northeast of the coast of Taiwan. About the same distance separates it from the Japanese islands of Ishigaki, Miyakojima and some others, located far south-west of the main territory of Japan. The island is not interesting for tourists, because there is absolutely nothing to look at Senkaku. These are tiny plots of land, unremarkable. There are no curious natural sites or architectural and historical monuments. The Japanese used them for some time as a base for fishermen, but had long since ceased because of unprofitability.
According to the official Japanese version, the Senkaku Islands were uninhabited for a long time. On this basis, and also because there were no signs of these islands being under the jurisdiction of any country, in 1895 the Japanese government, based on international law, announced that the Senkaku archipelago was now part of their state.
In fairness, it must be clarified that Japan also based its actions on the "right of the strong, " since China had recently been defeated in the war with it.
However, following the Second World War, Japan, which agreed to unconditional surrender, lost all territories acquired since the end of the 19th century. The large island of Okinawa, occupying an exceptionally advantageous position, also fell under the jurisdiction of the United States, along with the Senkaku archipelago. It was only in the early 70s that the Americans returned these territories to the Japanese.
It would seem that from now on the ownership of the Senkaku archipelago of Japan does not and will not cause doubts. But in the early 90s, the People’s Republic of China, which had by then become one of the world leaders, announced that it did not recognize Japanese sovereignty over this archipelago and considered the Diaoyu Islands (the Chinese name for the archipelago) to be part of its territory.
The first doubts about the legality of Japanese sovereignty over the archipelago were voiced by the Taiwan government in the early 70s, but they did not attract attention.
