kiuyiw said:
How did the island become part of japan? when? I don't think it's logical for USA to give the island to anyone since it was officially belong to chinese for a long long period. I think it's around 1403+ in ming dynasty. Almost 600 years.
It was forced to cession to japan together with taiwan after chinese lost the War. Then took controled by Amercian lately in wwII. I think it's logical and reasonable to give it back to taiwan instead of the invader.
It was not until a survey in 1968 found potential oil fields on the East China Sea that both Chinas claimed sovereignty over the islands. The ROC claimed them for the first time on June 11, 1971, which was followed by the PRC on December 30.
China claims that she had already ruled these islands before Japan controlled them while Japan claims that they were terra nullius. 'Terra nullius' is a Latin expression meaning "empty land" or "no man's land".
These islands were on the sea route between
Okinawa Mainland and Fujian. Chinese envoys to the Ryukyu Kingdom and, in far higher frequency, Okinawan ships passed by them.
China claims that these islands were within Ming's sea-defense area and belonged to Taiwan. The Chinese claimed that the islands were first mentioned in literature in 1372. The islands were first documented during the Ming Dynasty, by royal visitors from Ming China to the Ryukyu Kingdom at the current Okinawa prefecture of Japan. The documentation mentions, "When crossing the sea, we can saw black ocean? current underneath. The guide said, after passing this black current, they will leave the boundary of China. At this stage, we can see a series of islands that cannot be seen in the return trip." During the Qing Dynasty, when the ex-Ming Dynasty general Zheng Jing was defeated, Taiwan and its surrounding islands became under the control of the Qing. The islands were used only as a landmark for the trip to Ryukyu kingdoms. Some Chinese insist that during the Cixi era, the islands were presented as a gift to a mandarin "for the purpose of collecting herbs on the islands," but its credibility is questioned.
Japanese scholars claims that neither China nor Okinawa had recognition of sovereignty over the uninhabited islands so that Chinese documents only prove that Kumejima, the first inhabited island the Chinese met, belonged to Okinawa. Japanese scholars show that the History of Ming, the official history book of the Ming Dynasty compiled during the Qing period, classifies Taiwan and surrounding island to "foreign countries". They also bring official Chinese records about Taiwan or Fujian that never mention to these islands. Anyway, it is certain that no one effectively controlled them.
Japan's formal incorporation and the Treaty of Shimonoseki
After the
Meiji Restoration, the Japanese Government conducted surveys of the islands from 1885 that confirmed for her that these uninhabited islands had no trace of having been under the control of China. Thus Japan decided to erect a marker on the islands to formally incorporate them in a Cabinet Decision on 14 January 1895. Among these islands, four islands were borrowed and developed by the Koga family.
Today China does not approve Japan's formal incorporation and claims that it is the Treaty of Shimonoseki on April 17, 1895 that separated the islands from China although the treaty lacks the explicit mention to them. Thus China claims that they should have been "returned" after World War II, under provisions of the Cairo Declaration, Potsdam Proclamation, and Article 2 of the San Francisco Treaty. However, in her testimonial in 1920 the ROC admitted that they belonged to the Yaeyama District of Okinawa Prefecture.
U.S. occupation
After World War II, the islands came under the U.S. occupation as part of Okinawa. The U.S. and the Ryukyu Government under the U.S. occupation explicitly ruled these island, and the U.S. navy used Kuba-jima and Taisho-jima as maneuver areas. In 1972 the islands were returned from the U.S. to Japan as part of Okinawa.
Japanese scholars point out that it was not so difficult for the ROC to occupy these island in 1945 because she had already incorporated Taiwan and the surrounding islands two months before the U.S. military occupation extended to Yaeyama Islands. Thus they claim that this proves her lack of willingness to own the islands. They also bring official Chinese publications that show the island as part of Okinawa.
If you say the one who lately controled the island is the owner of it then it should be usa.
The country who controls these islands the latest is Japan.
and most people live there are immigrants from china in the early time. non japanese.
The people living there are already mixed with Japanese and therefore became Japanese people ethnically and officially.