From historic, geographic or geological,Diaoyu Islands--Inalienable Part of China's Territory!
They lie at the frontline position for the defense of our country's sovereignty. Diaoyu Islands, the full name of which is Diao Yu Tai Archipelago (钓鱼台群岛), is referred to as Senkaku Islands (尖阁列岛/尖阁诸岛)by the Japanese; they consist of Diaoyu Island, Huangwei Island, Chiwei Island, Nanxiao Island, Beixiao Island, Dananxiao Island, Dabeixiao Island and Feilai Island, covering an area of about 7 km2.
Until the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895, Japan had not raised any objections to China's sovereignty over Diaoyu Islands. In 1884, a Japanese man by the name of Tatsushiro Koga (古贺辰四郎) who lived in Naha (那霸), landed on Diaoyu Islands for the first time to collect feathers and tidbits from the sea. Later on, he applied to the prefect of Okinawa Prefecture for developing Diaoyu Islands but his application was turned down. After 1885, the Prefect of Okinawa submitted many written requests to the Japanese government, asking repeatedly for approval of jurisdiction over the Diaoyu Island, Huangwei Island and Chiwei Island. Considering the Chinese Ch'ing government's claim over these islands, the Japanese government made no reply. But after the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-1895, Japan forcibly took Taiwan and subsidiary islands by compelling the Ch'ing government to sign the Treaty of Shimonoseki (马关条约). After Japan's defeat at the end of World War II, Taiwan was returned to China, but its subsidiary islands, such as Diaoyu Islands, were placed under trusteeship of the United States without having previously consulted any concerned parties. In the late 1960s, after a committee member of the United Nations announced that the vicinity of the island was possibly rich in oil and natural gas, Japan immediately undertook unilateral actions. First it allowed many petroleum companies to move to the islands for prospective survey. Then it sent patrol boats to destroy, without authorization, the original signpost indicating China's sovereignty over the islands, and replaced the signpost with a boundary marker, stating that the islands are part of the Okinawa Prefecture. It has even accorded Japanese names to the eight adjacent islands in the Diao Yu Tai Archipelago.In 1971, when signing the treaty for the return of Okinawa, the US and Japan made a private agreement to include Diaoyu Islands into the territory to be returned to Japan. This transaction was met with strong objection from the Chinese Government. In 1972, during the China-Japan negotiations to resume diplomatic relations, both countries agreed, considering the overall amicable bilateral ties, to shelve the dispute over the ownership of Diaoyu Islands. This issue would be resolved later when conditions permit. However in 1978, during the negotiations between China and Japan for the signing of China-Japan peace treaty, some of the Japanese Diet members who took a hostile attitude towards China demanded that China acknowledge Japan's sovereign rights over Diaoyu Islands. The Japanese Government conforming to the demands of the right-wingers, send patrol vessels and aircrafts to keep watch on Chinese fishermen operating around Diaoyu Islands. In May the following year, the Japanese Government employed patrol boats to ferry personnel and equipment to Diaoyu Islands, and built a helicopter landing pad, as well as dispatching a survey team and surveying vessel to Diaoyu Islands.Since the 1990s, based on a false judgment about world situation and about the shift in power between nations, Japan, once again, began to lay its wicked hands on Diaoyu Islands with a greed never seen before in history. In October 1990, some Japanese right-wingers, backed by their government, erected a beacon tower on one of the islands of the archipelago. Japan even prevented some Taiwan fishermen from approaching Diaoyu Islands by deploying twelve boats and two helicopters thereto. On July 14, 1996, Japanese right-wingers built another beacon tower on a small island on Beixiao Island in an attempt to add the small island to their nautical chart so that it might win international recognition through cheating. On August 18 of the same year, Japanese right-wingers put up on Diaoyu Islands their "Sun Flag" (Hinomaru) and some wooden tablets bearing the names of executed war criminals. What merits our attention is the fact that the Japanese right-wingers' illegal acts on Diaoyu Islands has been acquiesced and supported by their crazy government. Some Japanese politicians even overtly voiced their support for such acts, claiming that the "Senkaku Islands (what the Japanese call China's "Diaoyu Islands) is Japan's territory" and that "Japan Coast Guard (海上保安厅) shall dispel intruders by force at any time".