On 11 September 2012, the Japanese government purchased the group of uninhabited islands known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China from private individuals.
Since the islands were incorporated into the territory of Japan in 1895, they have been under the actual control of Japan. In 1932, the Diaoyu Islands were acquired by a private individual, and the Japanese government has held the islands in the form of a lease since 2002. In April 2012, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara planned to purchase the islands in response to the Chinese claim to sovereignty. This plan attracted the attention of the Japanese government, then led by the Democratic Party of Japan, and the Japanese government subsequently acquired the islands.
Both the governments of China and Taiwan expressed their opposition to the purchase. The incident further strained Sino–Japanese relations, which had deteriorated since the 2010 Senkaku boat collision incident, leading to anti-Japanese demonstrations in China and a surge in the Baodiao movement across mainland China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Background
Ownership over the islands
In 1884, Japanese industrialist Tatsushiro Koga arrived at the Senkaku Islands during an expedition and subsequently applied to the Japanese Ministry of Home Affairs to have the islands incorporated into the national border. On 14 January 1895, the Japanese government, through a cabinet meeting, placed the islands under the jurisdiction of Okinawa Prefecture. From 1896, Tatsushiro Koga leased the right to use the islands from the Japanese government. In 1932, the Koga family purchased all the islands except for Chiwei Island and sold them to the Kurihara Hiroyuki family in 1974. On 1 April 2002, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications of Japan began leasing the islands, Minami-Kojima and Kita-Kojima to Hiroyuki Kurihara for the purpose of maintaining the stability and security of the islands.
Sovereignty dispute
The People's Republic of China, the Republic of China, and Japan all claim sovereignty over the islands. Prior to 2012, there were numerous conflicts between China and Japan over the islands, such as the 2010 Senkaku boat collision incident.
The purchase
Tokyo government's purchase plan On 18 April 2012, Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara said in a speech in Washington, D.C. that "China’s attempt to break Japan’s actual control over the Senkaku Islands sounds almost like a declaration of war." He said that the island should be "purchased" by the state, and that if the state did not "buy", then the Tokyo Metropolitan Government should "buy" it. He said "No matter which country is unhappy, the Japanese people will defend Japan’s territory." On the same day, Hiroyuki Kurihara said in an interview with Kyodo News that "he may negotiate with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the central government in the future," showing a positive attitude towards starting negotiations on the transfer of ownership. He also said that because he had a friendship and trust with Ishihara for about 40 years, he hoped to resolve the sovereignty issue by selling the islands to the Japanese government or the Tokyo Metropolitan Government. On 27 April 2012, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government established the "Tokyo Metropolitan Senkaku Islands Remittance Fund" account at Mizuho Bank to raise funds to purchase the islands. On average, it received 2,500 donations totaling ¥30 million yen per day. By 1 June 2012, the amount raised exceeded ¥1 billion yen. Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials expressed their hope to land on the islands in the summer.
On 25 June 2012, eight members of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, with the help of Okinawan fishermen, inspected the waters surrounding the islands and pushed forward the plan to purchase the islands. On 13 August 2012, Shintaro Ishihara published an article in The Sankei Shimbun, stating "I hope that Prime Minister Noda can personally visit that island on behalf of the people." He continued by saying "Seeing China’s tough stance, I have made up my mind to defend that island in place of the central government. In the future, I will definitely carry out large-scale infrastructure construction on the island to strengthen Japan’s effective control." On 2 September 2012, a 21-person (Tokyo Metropolitan Government officials, real estate appraisers and marine policy experts) Tokyo Metropolitan Government Survey Team departed from Ishigaki Port in the Ryukyu Islands aboard the shipwrecked rescue vessel Koyo Maru to measure hydrology, water quality and island environment near the Senkaku Islands in order to assess the economic and military value of the islands.
Japanese government purchase Shintaro Ishihara's actions caused concern in the Japanese government. Scholar Yoshikazu Kato pointed out that the Japanese government's judgment was that "if the island is bought by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, relevant parties may take measures against the island without regard for the overall situation of Japan–China relations. Therefore, it is better for the state to manage the island and maintain the status quo after nationalizing it, rather than having the Tokyo Metropolitan Government buy it. This is conducive to the peace and stability of the island."
On 3 September 2012, the Japanese government and the island owner reached an agreement and signed a purchase contract for approximately ¥2.05 billion yen (approximately ¥170 million renminbi). Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda explained: "The nationalization of the Diaoyu Islands is to maintain stable and peaceful management, and we will also explain to China, hoping that China will understand." On 10 September 2012, the Japanese government formally decided to nationalize the Senkaku Islands at a cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's Official Residence. The cabinet meeting on 11 September would decide to spend the purchase price of the islands from the reserve fund and sign a transaction contract with the landowners on the same day. The meeting confirmed that the purpose of nationalizing the Senkaku Islands was: (1) to ensure navigation safety and (2) to maintain and manage the Senkaku Islands in a stable and long-term manner. The meeting also decided that the Japan Coast Guard would be responsible for managing the Senkaku Islands. The nationalization of the Senkaku Islands became a foregone conclusion. The registration of ownership transfer was completed on 11 September. On the same day, at a regular press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Osamu Fujimura said that China's Chinese maritime surveillance ships going to the Senkaku Islands to safeguard their rights would never be allowed to "intrude into Japan's territorial waters". Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda addressed the Japan Self-Defense Forces at a meeting of senior officials, saying, "(The Self-Defense Forces must be) fully prepared" and "National defense must never be underestimated."
Reactions
Japan
Government On 13 May 2012, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda met with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao and stated that the Senkaku Islands belong to Japan, while Wen Jiabao stated that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China, leading to a heated exchange between the two sides. Japanese Ambassador to China Uichiro Niwa said in an interview on 1 June that Tokyo’s purchase of the Senkaku Islands would bring an extremely serious crisis to Japan–China relations. This was the first time that a Japanese government official had expressed opposition to the purchase of the islands. Niwa’s remarks caused controversy in Japan and aroused dissatisfaction within the government. On 14 June 2012, Japanese Vice Minister of Defense Shu Watanabe made his first public appearance on television representing the Japanese government, stating that the property should have been owned by the state and that it should be nationalized.
On 8 July 2012, Yoshihiko Noda said at a press conference: "There is no doubt that the Senkaku Islands are part of our national territory. There is no territorial issue or ownership issue regarding the Senkaku Islands because Japan actually controls these islands." On 26 July, Noda stated that military means could be taken in Senkaku Islands Village. On 29 August 2012, the House of Councillors amended the Japan Coast Guard Law and the Foreign Vessel Navigation Law, officially allowing the Japan Coast Guard to arrest citizens of other countries in the waters near the Senkaku Islands, with the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force acting as the police to carry out searches and arrests. On 3 September 2012, the Japanese weekly magazine Aera published the Japan Self-Defense Forces' "Action Guidelines" for the Senkaku Islands, in which Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan allowed the Self-Defense Forces to use firearms.
Political parties Koichiro Yoshida, a Democratic Party of Japan member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Assembly, said, "I believe that if Japan and ordinary people work together to buy the islands, they will generate benefits that are dozens of times greater than the purchase price." On 23 April 2012, Yoshitaka Nakayama, the mayor of Ishigaki, Okinawa, said he "supported Tokyo’s full right to purchase the Senkaku Islands." On 6 July 2012, two people, including Ishigaki City Councilor Hitoshi Nakama, landed on the Senkaku Islands. The two had also landed on the islands in January 2011. On 4 July 2012, the Sunrise Party announced its party platform, stating that if he came to power, it would send Self-Defense Force troops to the Senkau Islands and advocated for an alliance with Shintaro Ishihara.
On 2 August 2012, the "Parliamentary Alliance for the Defense of Japanese Territory", composed of cross-party members of the National Diet, held an event in Tokyo. On 3 August, they submitted an application to the Japanese government to form a team of more than 50 members to land on the Senkaku Islands on 19 August to hold a "memorial service" to commemorate the Imperial Japanese Army troops who went to Southeast Asia during World War II. Yoshihiko Noda expressed his support for this. On 6 September 2012, former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said during a TBS Television program: "China would not dare to use force to ‘seize’ the Senkaku Islands, because doing so would seriously affect China’s economy. In the recent Scarborough Shoal issue, China did not use force."
Society On 14 July 2012, a survey conducted by The Nikkei showed that 90% of Japanese people believed that the "actual control" of the Senkaku Islands should be strengthened, 46.7% supported the "nationalization of the Senkaku Islands", 45.5% supported the "purchase of the Senkaku Islands by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government", and only 7.8% supported "maintaining the status quo". On 16 July, a survey conducted by The Yomiuri Shimbun showed that 65% of Japanese people supported the "nationalization of the Senkaku Islands", and 20% opposed it. A survey released by NHK on 11 September showed that regarding the Japanese government's purchase of the Senkaku Islands, 6% of people chose "a very high evaluation", 23% of people chose "no evaluation at all", 28% of people chose "a certain evaluation", and 32% of people chose "not very good evaluation".