Tiaoyutai (Diaoyutai) is Chinese Territory!
Fung Hu-hsiang, Ph. D., Member of the Legislature, ROC
Translated by Bevin Chu
September 28, 1996
Tiaoyutai (Diaoyutai) is Chinese Territory!
The Evidence is Beyond Dispute
1. Imperial Chinese “Envoy Chen Kan’s Lui Chiu Chronicles” circa Ming Dynasty Chia-ching 13 (1534 A.D.) proves that the Taioyutai Islands belong to China and are not part of the Ryukyus. Even the Japanese edition of the “Chung Shan World Almanac” is in complete agreement. (Note: “Chung San” refers to the Rykuyus.)
2. The “Kuo Ru-ling Lui Chiu Chronicles” circa Ming Dynasty Chia-ching 42 (1563 A.D.) records that “after Taioyutai, we arrived on Redtail Island on the third of the month.; Redtail Island is close to the Ryukyus” indicating that Tiaoyutai belonged to China, not to the Ryukyus.
3. During the reign of Ching Emperor Kang-hsi (1785 A.D.), Hsu Pao-kuang’s “Thirty-six Islands Map” and related “Map Legend” of the Ryukyus did not include Tiaoyutai.
4. During the reign of Ching Emperor Chien-lung (1785 A.D.), the “Map and General Survey of Three Countries” by Japanese cartographer (named Ling Tse-ping in Chinese) unambiguously indicates that Tiaoyutai belongs to China, uses the same color for Tiaoyutai as for the rest of China, and uses a different color for the map of the Ryukyus.
5. The “Imperial Map of Native and Foreign Lands, Volume 7, Southern Portion” dating from Ching Emperor Tung-chi 2 (1862 A.D.) shows Taiwan’s territory as including Tiaoyutai.
6. In Meiji 6 (1873 A.D.) the official Japanese government’s “Complete Ryukyu Islands Map” omits Tiaoyutai.
7. In Meiji 10 (1877 A.D.) the official Japanese government publication “Okinawa Chronicles” similarly omits Tiaoyutai.
8. During the reign of Ching Dynasty Dowager Empress Tse-hsi (1893 A.D.) the Dowager Empress issued a Special Edict granting Tiaoyutai to Sheng Hsuan-hui for services rendered gathering herbal remedies from Taioyutai to treat the Empress’s illnesses. The Special Edict has since been preserved in the Chinese National Archives. The Japanese first laid claim to Tiaoyutai in Meiji 28 (1895 A.D.), clearly later than Tse-hsi’s landgrant.
9. In Meji 17 (1884 A.D.) Japanese Minister of the Interior Yamagada Akimoto petitioned Okinawa Prefecture to erect national markers on Tiaoyutai. Japanese Minister of Foreign Affairs Inouye Kaolu replied that such an act “would attract the attention of the Ching Nation” and therefore “should await a more opportune time.” (See Japanese Parliamentary Library, Foreign Affairs Archives) This reveals that the Japanese themselves knew the Tiaoyutai Islands did not belong to Japan and that they could not annex it outright, but merely bide their time.
10. In Meiji 28 (1895 A.D.) following the Sino-Japanese War the Ching Imperial Court was defeated and under coercion ceded Taiwan and Penghu. The Japanese deemed the time had come to annex Tiaoyutai, but even then hesitated to publicly announce it in their official publications. A September 1996 issue of a Japanese monthly (“Chan Ching Hsing Wen” in Chinese) cited a 1920 letter of thanks from the Chinese Consul to Nagasaki for the rescue of Chinese fishermen by Japanese on Tiaoyutai as evidence of Japanese sovereignty over the island. But since even Taiwan and Penghu were under Japanese occupation at the time, this argument is obviously irrelevant and meaningless.
11. In 1931, while Taiwan was still under Japanese occupation, Taipei County and Okinawa Prefecture quarreled over the jurisdiction of Tiaoyutai. A Tokyo court decided in favor of Taipei County, proving that even during Japanese occupation, Tiaoyutai still belonged to Taiwan. Therefore when WWII ended in 1945, and in accordance with the Cairo Conference Japan returned Taiwan and Penghu to China, it was simultaneously obliged to return Taioyutai – a part of Taiwan – to China.
12. In 1990 the United States State Department reiterated that “according to the 1951 Peace Treaty with Japan, the United States of America had only administrative authority over Okinawa, therefore the 1972 handover to Japan has no effect on its sovereignty.” This demonstrates that the United States could at most transfer administrative authority of the Rykuyus to Japan, not sovereignty, let alone the sovereignty of Tiaoyutai, which did not belong to the Rykuyus in the first place.
13. During the Cold War when American forces were stationed on Taiwan, military maneuvers were periodically held which required the use of Tiaoyutai as an aerial bombing target. The American military applied each time to the ROC government for authorization, confirming again that Taioyutai is ROC territory.
14. In 1955 Nationalist Troops while retreating from Tachen Island, were garrisoned on Tiaoyutai. Approaching Japanese ships would be fired upon to drive them away. This proves that even at that time the ROC government possessed sovereignty over Tiaoyutai.
15. Finally, the overriding historical fact which renders all Japanese claims to Tiaoyutai utterly hollow and without force, is the 1952 Sino-Japanese Peace Treaty, signed by both the governments of China and Japan. Article 4 of the Treaty explicitly declares that “All treaties, special accords, agreements concluded prior to the Ming Kuo 30 or December 9, 1941 Sino-Japanese Accord, are as a consequence of the conclusion of the war, hereby null and void.” In other words the Ma-kuan Treaty of 1895 was null and void. Japan’s acquisition of Taiwan and Tiaoyutai were null and void. Japan simply and plainly cannot make demands or claims of any sort whatsoever regarding sovereignty over Tiaoyutai.
Let Chinese throughout the world stand united, setting aside political differences to unite in defense of Tiaoyutai, refusing to yield until we emerge victorious!
The Republic of China Alliance for the Defense of Tiaoyutai