Senkaku Islands Controversy

There is a voracity for territory of SCS, since it is imperative to the world’s economy, as it is 3.5 million square kilometres, therefore making it the most valuable and busiest maritime trade route in the world. The Nansha islands also know as ‘Spratly Islands’ are one of the many disputes, since the South East Asian nations around it argue their right to sovereign it, China in particular. A liberalist approach causes us to understand that these islands allow China to protect it’s border, since any threat can be stopped before it reaches

Since their purchase by the Japanese government from their private owners in September 2012, the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have been a topic of protest and discontent in the East China Sea and its surrounding area. While current conflicts have arisen because of skirmishes with patrol boats and sightings of Chinese drones flying over the islands, disputes over sovereignty of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands have existed since the cession of Chinese territory in the Treaty of Shimonoseki following China’s defeat in the Sino-Japanese War. Original ownership of the islands was never officially settled between China and Japan, but after the establishment of several more international treaties in the twentieth century, jurisdiction over the islands became unclear and practically undeterminable. While conflicts were set aside during the latter half of the twentieth century in order to improve Sino-Japanese relationships, the purchase of the islands and military activity renewed tensions between the two nations. Present-day territorial disputes over the sovereignty of the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands are a result of the multiple cessions and reversions of control in twentieth century treaty laws between China and Japan.

"In anticipation of possible open conflict with this country, Japan is vigorously utilizing every available agency to secure military, naval and commercial information, paying particular attention to the West Coast, the Panama Canal and the Territory of Hawaii," stated the 26-page memo.”

The Spratly Islands provide a rich source of controversy, despite their small size, due to the aforementioned rich resources and disputed claims. Where the background information leaves off, at the year 1988, no less than four countries have claimed the Spratly Islands: Philippines, Taiwan, Vietnam, and China. Two newcomers, Brunei and Malaysia, have claimed small parts, but as of 1988 no effort had been made to enforce these claims. These nations are all recently industrialized- and are all eager to stake their place in the world. All are desperate to prove themselves to the international community that they are forced to reckoned with- not playthings which can be exploited by western powers. Therefore, there is a great sense of national

The United States plans to have the navy and the air force relocate their military efforts. He states, “By 2020, the navy and the air force plan to base 60 percent of their forces in the Asia-Pacific region” (Krepinevich). Krepinevich also gives an example of how China is a type of a bully to other countries that are located within China’s reach. “China is a big country, and other countries are small countries, and that is just a fact.” This was said by China’s foreign minister, Yang Jiechi, when he was questioned regarding the territorial expansion of China. I may not have all the same beliefs and ethics of this specific author, but, this sounds kind of like a bully disregarding others feelings because of what the bully wants to happen. China is infringing on another country’s boundaries and rights which gives off the same characteristics as

China claims that the Spratly Islands/ Nansha Islands are discovered more than 2,000 years ago and it recorded in some historical books and documents (Scattered Books of the Zhou Dynasty, The Classics of Poems, Zuo’s Commentaries, and Statements of the States). In March 1959, China set up an office in charge of the Spratly Islands and other islands in the South China Sea. In March 1988, China try to against the penetration of the Spratly Islands by Vietnam. China also claims that other countries try to take over the ownership of the Spratly Islands considered illegal due to the China already own the authority of the Spratly Islands and undertake the responsibility on in charge all the feature of the islands. They also believes that the sovereignty

In his other main point, the value of the four islands is central to his argument of strained relations between the two countries. The islands were both explored and claimed by both countries during interesting periods of history. When Japan explored the islands in the Tokugawa Period, they were in a period of extreme isolation. Russia explored the islands during the same period when they were in a period of expanding. (Kimura)(pg. 144)The islands are rich with oil and have some of the best fishing in the ocean. The author points out due to the expansive nature of the two countries, the need for resources only added fuel to the fire. (Kimura)(pg. 144) Japan viewed the small islands also known as the Kurille Islands

China's neighbors complained about the islands, too. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam all dispute sovereignty of several island chains and nearby waters in the South China Sea.

As of today, China has expanded and built over seven artificial islands in the South China Sea since 2014. The South China Sea has recently come to be a major problem in Asia as issues have risen over who has rights of passage and claims in this area. The Chinese of recent have been making territorial claims in the South China Sea that are in areas of free passage for many other Asian countries and the United States. In October 2015, a U.S. guided missile destroyer encountered one of the artificial islands and China’s response was that it would “take any measure” to maintain its security in “their territory”. The Chinese have been questioned in the Permanent Court of Arbitration by the Philippines after claiming rights to historical locations in the South China Sea, which violates sovereign rights of the Philippines, yet China responded to this outcome with refusal and has continued to advance itself in the territory causing huge disputes with its neighboring countries as freedom of navigation has been compromised through China’s actions.. In order to guarantee resolution and maintain the freedom of navigation aspect of international law there needs to be a foreign policy put in place that puts more United States military in the South China Sea with support from disputing countries like Japan and the Philippines as a way to make the issue multilateral and law abiding.

From an international relations perspective, the Taiwan Strait, one of the most likely conflict zones in the Asia-Pacific region, has been dubbed the “Balkan Peninsula of the East.” The status of Taiwan has been one of the most intricate issues in international relations arena for the past decades. The Taiwan question is essentially an extension of the “two Chinas” problem, which creates a dilemma for accommodating

An enduring dispute over Dokdo Island has proven difficult to resolve. Japan and Korea have been having an argument over the island for sovereignty ever since 1910 (South). This island has three names, Dokdo, Takeshima, and Liancourt. Dokdo, a solitary island, is a Korean name for this island. Takeshima, a Bamboo Island, is what Japanese call it. Both Japan and South Korea uses historical facts to support their claims for the island (Profile). To what extent is the dispute between Korea and Japan an issue about resources versus history?

Somewhere off the coast of Southeast Asia in the South China sea lies a string of 14 islands and reefs. These reefs and islands are the center of an international dispute of sorts. Six surrounding countries lay claim to at least a few of the islands, but China claims them all. Including the sea surrounding them. All the Spratly Islands are claimed by China, Taiwan and Vietnam, while parts of them are claimed by Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines. But according to China, their territorial rights to the islands and sea date back over 2,000 years from ancestors who discovered, named and explored the South China sea (The World Factbook: Spratly Islands) (Livingstone).

In order to better understand the dispute of these islands and this body of water, geography plays a role considering the area sea is located to borders on many different regions. According Chmillier-Gendreau (2000), the south-west of the Indian Ocean, the sea connects with the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. To the north-east, the sea connects with the Sea of Japan and the Strait of Korea. The position of this body of water is interconnected with many other bodies of waters which coincide with many countries. The islands residing in the middle of this sea therefore lies in the middle of many different countries. The two islands, Spratly and Paracel Islands lie in the middle of the maritime zone. Since it is in the middle, no neighboring country is really physically connected to these islands by geography (Chemillier-Gendreau, 2000, p. 16). Despite that fact, China and Vietnam both claim sovereignty over these islands based on historical and

Korea and Japan have been known for their food, their culture, and as well as the products that have been selling throughout the world. They have been able to build their economy up as well as be able to develop drastically to a point where they are considered to be one of the most developed countries in the world. Though both nations have developed as well as maintained peace with other nations; Japan and Korea have one thing that they do not seem to be able to get along or even resolve. Both countries have something in common in what they want to get their hands on. What do the two nations want, but cannot have unless the other party gives it up? is the Takeshima/Dokdo Island. It is because of such territorial dispute that it is not only

In addressing a long-time conflict, the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague ruled on 29 October 2015 that it will be holding hearings over a South China Sea territorial dispute filed by the Philippines against the People’s Republic of China. The South China Sea has been a region of large dispute over both unresolved island and maritime claims by the People’s Republic of China, Republic of China (Taiwan), Brunei, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the Philippines (Buszynski and Sazlan, 2007). The most recent issues at hand is the PRC’s construction efforts in the highly contentious Spratly Islands, or Nansha (南沙群岛) over the past year along with the Philippines’ case filed with the Permanent Court of Arbitration. In this paper, I will be discussing the historical context and situation, examining the academic and legal responses to the issue, and analyzing the conflict within the international law framework. Because this is a relatively recent development with little to no legal scholarship surrounding the event, my analysis will be limited to news articles and journal articles regarding previous Sino-Philippine maritime conflict.