The island group consists of five uninhabited islets and three barren rocks.
Territorial sovereignty over the islands and the maritime boundaries around them are disputed between the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and Japan.
The People’s Republic and Taiwan claim that the islands have been a part of Chinese territory since at least 1534. They acknowledge that Japan took control of the islands in 1894–1895 during the first Sino-Japanese War, through the signature of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. They assert that the Potsdam Declaration (which Japan accepted as part of the San Francisco Peace Treaty) required that Japan relinquish control of all islands except for “the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine”, and they state that this means control of the islands should pass to China.
Japan does not accept that there is a dispute, asserting that the islands are an integral part of Japan.
Japan has rejected claims that the islands were under China’s control prior to 1895, and that these islands were contemplated by the Potsdam Declaration or affected by the San Francisco Peace Treaty.
Thank you. I wonder how far each nation is willing to go over this dispute.