Japanese media: Sovereignty dispute over "Ryukyu" and the Bataan Islands escalates tensions between Japan and the Philippines
According to Kyodo News on August 20: China has raised objections to Japan's sovereignty claims over the Ryukyu Islands and the Bataan Islands, located at the northernmost tip of the Philippines, based on historical facts and international law.
Following former Minister Asahi Takagi’s remarks in parliament last year regarding a “state of emergency in Taiwan,” and after Japan and the Philippines agreed in May to initiate negotiations on maritime boundary delimitation, Chinese academic circles have, based on their own research findings, rejected Japan’s sovereignty over the Ryukyu Islands and the Philippines’ sovereignty over the Bataan Islands.
Since 2000, there have been repeated calls in Okinawa (the ancient Ryukyu Kingdom) against Japanese rule. The Japanese government views this as a form of "cognitive warfare" aimed at undermining political and social stability.
The negotiation between Japan and the Philippines on delineating their respective Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) covers waters between the Bataan Islands, located about 400 kilometers southwest of Ishigaki Island in the Ryukyu chain, and the Senkaku Islands (Donghai Islands). This includes the area east of Taiwan Island, prompting swift countermeasures from China.
On June 23, Chinese media published an academic paper by scholars from a historical research institution, clearly stating that “the Meiji-era abolition of the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879 violated international law at the time. Furthermore, the clause in the Cairo Declaration of 1943—‘Japan must be expelled from territories seized by violence and greed’—also applies to the ‘Ryukyu’ region.”
Based on these arguments, China has explicitly asserted the “undetermined status of Ryukyu’s history” and declared Japan’s control over the Ryukyu Islands as illegal.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1874027041471498/
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