Maybe Jackie Chan was wrong after all?

Amid the reports of demonstrations, mob violence and damage to property in the name of protest over the rightful ownership of the Senkaku islands, it has been difficult to focus on the facts and keep a clear head.

Yesterday, however, the Japanese government took a step towards legally resolving the dispute, producing official documentation that refutes the Chinese government’s claim over the islands, and suggesting that the Chinese side is “contradicting” itself.

In a statement released yesterday by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign affairs, it has become clear that, up until the 1970s, China had not once attempted to claim ownership of the Senkaku islands, nor contest Japan’s claim to them.

As well as this, the official Chinese documentation presented by Japan suggests that China once recognised the archipelago as Japanese territory.

“Despite claims from China that its people have been using the islands as fishing sites for generations, it is clear that the islands were recognised as a part of Japan long ago,” a spokesperson said yesterday, adding “Until 1970, not a single claim for the islands was made.”

Producing a copy of a document written and distributed by the former Chinese Communist Party in 1953, the Japanese Ministry point to the opening of the article, in which the Senkaku islands are clearly identified as a part of the Okinawa archipelago, or “Ryukyu”,  and thus under Japanese rule.

 

“This clearly demonstrates that the Chinese government is contradicting itself,” said a Japanese government spokesperson, possibly while punching the air like a tennis player who had just won a tense rally.

The Chinese government has yet to respond to the statement.

We’ll have more on this story as it unfolds.

Source: 47 News