The Senkaku / Diaoyu Islands
Five uninhabited islands and three rocks in the East China Sea, 7 km² in all. Japan has held them since 1895, apart from a spell of US control after the Second World War; China and Taiwan have claimed them since 1971, soon after a UN report hinted at oil. The United States takes no side on sovereignty, but says its defence treaty with Japan covers them.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 27 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:
Japan →
China →
Taiwan →
Two histories
China says its Ming dynasty (1368–1644) counted the islands as part of its maritime territory and put them on maps of its coastal defences, and that the Qing dynasty placed them under Taiwan. Taiwan’s claim rests on a similar basis. China does not appear ever to have settled them or kept naval forces nearby, though Chinese fishermen are said to have sheltered there.[2]
Japan’s cabinet decided to incorporate the islands on 14 January 1895, arguing that they were terra nullius, owned by no one, and showed no trace of Chinese control. Japan does not accept that any territorial dispute exists. For some years afterwards a Japanese businessman, Tatsuhiro Koga, ran settlements there to gather bonito and guano.[2]
Shimonoseki and after
In 1895 China lost the war with Japan and, in the Treaty of Shimonoseki, ceded Taiwan “together with all the islands appertaining or belonging to” it. The treaty did not name the Senkakus. Japan says its incorporation had nothing to do with the war; China and Taiwan say Japan used its victory to take them, and that the Allied wartime declarations meant they should have been returned with Taiwan.[2]
The United States took control of the islands after the Second World War. In 1969 a UN report suggested there might be large oil reserves in the seabed, and in 1971 both China and Taiwan claimed the islands. The US returned their administration to Japan in 1972, along with Okinawa.[1]
Purchase and patrols
In September 2012 Japan’s government bought three of the islands from their private owners, to pre-empt a Japanese nationalist who had raised money to buy them. China protested and began regular patrols by maritime law enforcement ships, in what it calls its territorial waters.[2][1] There has been no armed conflict, but the islands remain a constant source of friction.[1]
US administrations since Nixon have taken no position on who owns the islands, but since 1972 have said the 1960 US–Japan security treaty covers them, because Japan administers them. In 2014 Barack Obama is believed to have become the first president to say so publicly, and in 2017 Donald Trump and Shinzo Abe affirmed it.[2] Tensions rose again in November 2025, after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said a Chinese attack on Taiwan could prompt a Japanese military response.[3]
Timeline
189514 January 1895
Japan incorporates the islands
Japan’s cabinet declares them Japanese territory.[2]
1895
Treaty of Shimonoseki
China cedes Taiwan and its islands to Japan.[2]
1953
US administration
The islands are administered by the United States until 1971.[2][1]
1969
Oil report
A UN report suggests oil under the seabed nearby.[1]
1971
Claims
China and Taiwan both claim the islands.[1]
1972
Back to Japan
The US returns administration with Okinawa.[1]
2012
Purchase
Japan’s government buys three islands; Chinese patrols follow.[2]
More disputed places
Sources
- [1]Senkaku Islands · Encyclopaedia Britannica
- [2]The Senkakus (Diaoyu/Diaoyutai) Dispute: U.S. Treaty Obligations · Congressional Research Service · 21 February 2017
- [3]China, Japan clash over Senkaku Islands maritime encounter · Modern Diplomacy (Sana Khan) · 2 December 2025
- [4]Admin 0 – Countries, 1:10m · Natural Earth (via the world-atlas package)
The outlines of the three largest islands.
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.