The Diaoyutai Islands on Taiwan's official maps: pre- and post-1971

In: Asian affairs: an American review, Band 39, Heft 2, S. 90-105

Abstract

This report presents cartographic evidence of the government of the Republic of China's (ROC) change of attitude from denying to asserting sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands in the early 1970s. Scholars have hinted that China kept silent about the Japanese claim on the Diaoyutai Islands since its 1895 annexation. As cartographic evidence in this report reveals, however, the ROC did not keep silent. By not including the Diaoyutai Islands in its official cartographic productions, the ROC admitted that the Diaoyutai Islands were not part of its territory. This has significant implications for the ROC because Japan exerts its claim over the islands not only on the terra nullius principle, but also on the fact that Taiwan viewed these islands as non-ROC territory until the 1970s. Today, Taiwan continues to exert the claim that it has owned these islands since ancient times. Our cartographic evidence suggests difficulties for Taiwan in defending its claim in this longstanding battle. (Asian Aff/GIGA)