Islands in dispute

 

 

Despite the inauguration of a hawkish PM, I am glad that things seem to have somewhat quieted down. To me, the outbursts of nationalist sentiments that the media loved to air were farcical rather than ominously intimidating. To see people shouting over the ownership of a number of islets hardly larger than rocks was like watching children fighting over a toy.

 

Although the claims that the both governments make sound like that the islands have been theirs since the time immemorial, I must point out the notion of territorial sovereignty is not universal. I would like to think it as an invention of the modern times and associate it with a series of events from Christopher Columbus taking possession of San Salvador to Neil Armstrong planting an American flag on the moon. The notion is historically recent. The way it is used today has clearly been linked with the emergence and establishment of nation states.

 

Japanese Foreign Ministry states that “from 1885, surveys of the Senkaku Islands had been thoroughly conducted by the Government of Japan. Through these surveys, it was confirmed that the Senkaku Islands showed no trace of having been under the control of China. Based on this confirmation, the Government of Japan made a Cabinet Decision in January 1895 to formally incorporate the Senkaku Islands into the territory of Japan…. These measures were carried out in accordance with the ways of duly acquiring territorial sovereignty under international law.”

(http://www.mofa.go.jp/region/asia-paci/senkaku/index.html, accessed on 31/12/12)

 

The principle used was that “if nobody else makes a claim, the land is yours.” From 1492 on, this presumption was used to legitimize “discoveries” that allowed colonial powers to curve up the globe and expand their empires. Intriguing is the date of incorporation. 1895 was the year when Japan took Taiwan as booty for winning the war with China. In that event, the sovereignty of the islands should have returned to China when Taiwan ceased to be Japanese colony in 1945. And if, as Tokyo claims, that the islands originally belonged to the Kingdom of Ryukyu, which was taken over by Japan by force only two decades before the Sino-Japanese war, does it prove that the islands have inherently been Japan’s?

 

For ages, people migrated from islands to islands. If there were people who tried their luck in inhabiting on those inhospitable islands, they could probably have come either from other southern Ryukyu Islands, or from Taiwan, because of their geographical proximity. Large ships from other nations may have found a haven there during a typhoon season. As far as I know, however, there is no record of human settlements prior to 1895 when Japan’s Government sent workers to build a factory to make dried fish.

 

The point I wish to make is that not every piece of land (with or without underground natural resources) on earth is meant to be possessed by somebody. Greed, whether personal, national, or corporate, is not omnipotent. Practices of “commons” were not uncommon and can still be utilized.