China
East China Sea Summary of Claims China maintains that the Diaoyu Islands (or Diaoyudao) have been a part of its sovereign territory since the Ming Dynasty in the sixteenth century. The territory is controlled and claimed by Japan (which refers to the islands as the Senkakus) and Taiwan (Diaoyutai). While Beijing acknowledges that the Diaoyu Islands were ceded to Japan in the 1895 Treaty of Shimonoseki, it contends that control was returned to China at the end of World War II. Historical/Legal Basis of Claims China argues that it has controlled the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), when… Read More »China