EXCLUSIVE: Japan to Display Past Chinese Records on Senkakus

Tokyo, Nov. 6 (Jiji Press)–The Japanese government will put on display records showing that China had historically recognized the Senkaku Islands in Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture as islands outside its territory, Jiji Press learned Thursday. The Japanese-administered islets in the East China Sea are claimed by China. Part of the records will be displayed on exhibition panels from Nov. 14 at the National Museum of Territory and Sovereignty in Tokyo. In light of China’s coercive actions, the government hopes to emphasize that the islands are part of Japan’s territory. The three sets of records to be put on display include an internal document prepared by the Chinese Foreign Ministry in 1950 for discussions on a peace treaty with Japan and an 1889 report by a Qing government official who stayed in Japan to assess the country’s situation. The remaining one consists of an official document and a record of a meeting between Japanese and Qing officials on the handover of Taiwan from Qing to Japan, both created in 1895. The 1950 document referred to the islands by the Japanese name, Senkaku Islands, not by the Chinese name of Diaoyu Islands. It also said that the islands were part of the Ryukyus, the present-day Okinawa Prefecture. The Chinese government has kept the document undisclosed. Both the 1889 and 1895 documents indicate that the Qing government did not recognize the Senkaku Islands as part of its territory. While the 1950 and 1889 documents have shown up in educational pamphlets and other materials published by the Japanese government, the 1895 Taiwan-related documents will be made available to the public for the first time. After the discovery of possible oil reserves near the Senkaku Islands in 1971, China started claiming that the islands were part of China’s territory from ancient times. Japan takes the position that there is no territorial issue over the Senkaku Islands. The records “objectively show China’s view (on the matter) and further back Japan’s position,” a government official said. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]