Taiwan’s former leader Ma Ying-jeou rejects Japan’s claims to Diaoyu Islands during mainland China trip

Taiwanese ex-president denies disputed Diaoyus are Japanese territory after being shown ancient manuscripts at mainland museum, Xinhua says
Taipei also views the island chain as part of its territory

Taiwan

Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing

Published: 8:04pm, 7 Apr 2024

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Former Taiwanese president Ma Ying-jeou has weighed in on the debate over the Diaoyu Islands, saying Japanese claims to the disputed island chain are at odds with historical records.

During a Saturday visit to a museum in the ancient imperial city of Xian in mainland China, Ma was shown ancient manuscripts that he said proved that the islands “do not belong to Ryukyu” – the name of a kingdom that was a Chinese tributary state for more than 500 years until it was annexed by Japan in 1879.

The Diaoyu Islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, have been a frequent point of friction between Beijing and Tokyo in recent decades.

Tokyo claims the Diaoyus belong to the Japanese prefecture of Okinawa, which includes the area once known as Ryukyu. However, Beijing has long disputed the notion that the Diaoyus were part of the Ryukyu kingdom.

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Liu Chengyong, director of the China National Archives of Publications and Culture, said Ma viewed ancient texts “indicating the Diaoyu Islands are part of Chinese territory”, official news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.

“This is something those of us studying the Diaoyu Islands must read,” Ma said of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) manuscript, according to Xinhua.

Ma added that historical records about the Diaoyus should be publicised, Xinhua said.

The document, penned by a Chinese envoy after a mission to confer titles upon the king of Ryukyu, states that the emissary passed the Diaoyus before reaching Ryukyu, which Liu cited as evidence that the islands fell outside the ancient kingdom.

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Tensions over the uninhabited islands, a potential source of oil and natural gas, have intensified over the past year.

Beijing published an official map last summer that emphasised its territorial claim to the Diaoyus – a move that angered Japan, which rejected the map.

The islands are currently under Japan’s control, but Beijing has stepped up patrols in nearby waters. Coastguard vessels of the two countries clashed in a series of confrontations last autumn.

Taipei also views the Diaoyu Islands as part of its territory.

Ma did not specify who he thought the Diaoyus belonged to during his Xian trip. When he visited the East China Sea as the Taiwanese leader in 2012, he said the islands “have long been an inherent part of the territory of the Republic of China”, using Taiwan’s official name for itself.

Ma, a senior member of the mainland-friendly Kuomintang party, is leading a group of Taiwanese students on an 11-day trip to the mainland, which he has described as a “journey of peace”.

He will travel to Beijing on Sunday and is expected to meet President Xi Jinping next week, though the meeting has yet to be confirmed. It would be their first since a meeting in Singapore in 2015, when Ma was the self-ruled island’s president.

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Beijing sees Taiwan as part of its territory to be united with the mainland, by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as independent state, but Washington opposes any attempt to take the island by force and remains committed to supplying it with weapons.

Ma’s visit comes at a time of heightened tensions between Beijing and Taipei as Taiwan’s president-elect William Lai Ching-te, whom Beijing has called a “troublemaker”, prepares to take office as the island’s next president.

Lai, a member of the independence-leaning Democratic Progressive Party, will be inaugurated on May 20.