ABSTRACT
China and Japan both claim sovereignty over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands but each has differing historical accounts of how ownership came about. The five small uninhabited islets and three barren rocks are together known as the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands, which lie 230 nautical miles east of the Chinese coast, 120 nautical miles north-east of Taiwan, and 200 nautical miles south-west of Okinawa. Sino–Japanese relations have deteriorated to the lowest point since 1972 when the two countries normalized diplomatic relations. Sino–Japanese territorial disputes extend beyond the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands to the maritime boundary in the East China Sea. In this case, the timing of the annexation of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands remains disputed. The standoff over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands was a serious setback in bilateral relations, as Asia's two largest economies marked their 40th anniversary of diplomatic relations. Since the late 1990s China has intensified its efforts to assert its sovereign claim to the East China Sea, including the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands.
