Abstract:

Territorial disputes, occasioned by colonialism in most if not all cases, remain a thorny issue in contemporary international relations. In the East China Sea (ECS), a portion of the Pacific Ocean, is a group of uninhabited islets and barren rocks which the Asian economic powers – China, Japan and Taiwan claim ownership and sovereignty over based on historical records, international legal documents and geographical fact. These islets, which China calls ‘Diaoyu Islands’ and Japan, ‘Senkaku Islands’, are close to important shipping lanes, potential hydrocarbon deposits, and good fishing areas. However, irredentism and nationalism in China, and the politics played by staunch nationalists in Japan, have from time to time led to simmering tensions between both countries. Though, China and Japan have a maritime delimitation feud over their overlapping Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), this paper solely examines the competing territorial claims of China and Japan to the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands in the geostrategic East China Sea. For the study, the historical approach was adopted and data were garnered from secondary sources. The paper concludes that China has a rich history regarding the disputed islands. However, it has insufficient historical evidence to prove that it exercised territorial sovereignty over the islets centuries ago. For Japan, it has good historical evidence to make a case for the island’s ownership. Also, it has met the international law requirement of ‘effective occupation’ of the islets.