King-of-the-islands tiff
(From The Japan Times September 10 issue)

尖閣沖衝突事件が日中関係に落とす影

The Japan Coast Guard on Sept. 8 arrested the captain of a Chinese fishing vessel after his ship hit two Japan Coast Guard patrol boats Sept. 7 inside Japanese territorial waters near the disputed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea.

Because the ship was inside territorial waters, the Japanese Foreign Ministry on Sept. 7 lodged a protest with Chinese Ambassador to Japan Cheng Yonghua by phone. The Chinese Foreign Ministry, in turn, summoned Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa on Sept. 8 to lodge a protest.

Some 40 Chinese activists staged a protest in front of the Japanese Embassy in Beijing on Sept. 8. There may be more protests in China and Hong Kong. Tokyo and Beijing must prevent the latest incident from getting out of hand.

On Sept. 7, the fishing vessel ignored an order to stop from a Japan Coast Guard patrol boat about 12 km north-northwest of Kuba Island in the Senkaku Islands and sailed away. Its captain was served an arrest warrant shortly after 2 a.m. on Sept. 8.

China and Taiwan started sovereignty claims over the Senkaku Islands only when the existence of offshore resources, including oil, was confirmed around 1970. China calls them the Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan, the Tiaoyutai Islands. But it is historically clear that the islands belong to Japan. In 1895, the Japanese government declared the islands to be part of Okinawa Prefecture. Japanese nationals built a wharf and a factory to process dried bonito on the islands, which are no longer inhabited.

Before the offshore resources came to light, China's maps and the Chinese government recognized the Senkaku Islands as part of the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa Prefecture). In 1992, China enacted a territorial waters law that said the Diaoyu Islands are part of China. Beijing should realize that if it fans anti-Japanese feelings following the latest incident, it will only damage ties at a time when economic mutual dependence is deepening.

海保が、日本の領土である尖閣諸島沖で日本の巡視船に衝突した中国漁船の船長を逮捕した。

外務省は在日中国大使に電話で抗議し、中国側は北京の日本大使を呼び出し抗議した。中国人活動家が北京の日本大使館前で抗議デモを行なった。今後、抗議運動が広がり手に負えなくなる状況を日中両政府は防がなくてはならない。

中国と台湾が尖閣諸島の領有権を主張し始めたのは、東シナ海に石油を含む資源が確認されてからだ。日本は1895年に尖閣諸島を沖縄の一部として編入し、埠頭や鰹節工場を建設した。

中国の地図や中国政府も同諸島を沖縄の一部だと認めていたが、1992年に領海法を制定し中国領だと主張した。最近の衝突事件による反日感情を煽るようなことをすれば、深まってきた経済的相互関係にダメージを与えるだけだということを中国政府は理解すべきだ。