Diaoyutai Islands

English

Alternative forms

• Tiaoyutai Islands

Etymology

Partial calque of Mandarin 釣魚臺群島／釣魚台群島／钓鱼台群岛 (Diàoyútái Qúndǎo).

Proper noun

Diaoyutai Islands

1. A chain of islands in the East China Sea: the Taiwanese name.
   • [1975, Harold C. Hinton, “Japan: Power and Problems”, in Three and A Half Powers: The New Balance in Asia‎^[1], Indiana University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 223:

     By the spring of 1972, however, Peking’s general anti-Japanese offensive was fading away in any case, and in mid-May the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese jurisdiction brought the Self-Defense Forces into the vicinity of the Tiao Yü T’ai (or Senkaku). Peking accordingly dropped the issue as suddenly as it had taken it up.]

   • [1980 September 7, “Statement on isles”, in Free China Weekly‎^[2], volume XXI, number 35, Taipei, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1:

     The Foreign Ministry has reiterated the sovereignty of the Republic of China over the Tiaoyutai Islands and firmly repudiated any promise to any nation by the Chinese Communists to exploit the islands’ resources.]

   • 1986, Shih-shan Henry Tsai, The Chinese Experience in America‎^[3], Indiana University Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 172:

     On August 29, 1969, Japanese geologists reported the discovery of huge oil deposits in the Diaoyutai Islands (Japanese called them the Sengaku Islands) area in the East China Sea.

   • 1998 [1989], George H. W. Bush, Brent Scowcroft, quoting Deng Xiaoping, A World Transformed‎^[4], New York: Alfred A. Knopf, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 95:

     Japan did the most damage. Tens of millions of lives were lost, and the damage is incalculable in financial terms. However, in the end Japan didn’t get any Chinese territory. In terms of territorial questions between China and Japan, there is only the Diaoyutai Islands. . . . We’ve proposed to shelve this problem for the time being. . . .

   • 2012 September 12, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) strongly demands that the Japanese government refrain from taking any unilateral action that violates the ROC’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands, so as to avoid damaging bilateral cooperative relations and generating tension in East Asia”, in Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Taiwan)‎^[5], archived from the original on March 31, 2021:

     3.For centuries, the waters surrounding the Diaoyutai Islands have been fishing grounds for fishermen from northeastern Taiwan. During the period of Japanese occupation, the Taiwan Governor-General Office in 1920 officially designated the Diaoyutai Islands and their surrounding waters as skipjack tuna fishing grounds for Taiwan fishermen. Five years later, in 1925, the Office published Taiwan Shuichan Yaolan (“Overview of Taiwan’s Aquaculture”) and reiterated that the Diaoyutai Islands and their surrounding waters were “important fishing grounds” for Taiwan.
     MOFA solemnly reiterates that it will not acknowledge any illegal assertion by the government or any politician of Japan that would affect the ROC’s sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands.

   • 2013 May 24, “Asian Islands in Dispute”, in The New York Times‎^[6], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 May 2013, Opinion‎^[7]:

     The Republic of China (Taiwan) has a legitimate claim to sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands based on geological, historical and legal factors. The islands have the closest physical proximity to Taiwan and have been used by Taiwanese fishermen for generations.

   • 2014, Jerome A. Cohen, “Introduction”, in My Fight for a New Taiwan‎^[8], University of Washington Press, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, pages 6–7:

     At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne, Lu began to see the culture and politics of Taiwan in a different light. Her participation in the Protect the Diaoyutai Islands movement, which asserted the Republic of China’s sovereignty over the islands, provided the impetus for her awareness of Chiang Kai-shek's inability to handle Taiwan's worsening crises in foreign relations.

   • 2016 [2014 April 17], “President Ma Attends "Examining the Diaoyutai/Senkaku Islands Dispute under New and Multiple Perspectives" International Conference”, in Ying-jeou Ma, editor, Chinese (Taiwan) Yearbook of International Law and Affairs‎^[9], volume 32 (2014), Brill Nijhoff, →ISBN, →ISSN, →OCLC, page 281:

     President Ma further noted that in 1683 during the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) the emperor formally included the Diaoyutais as territory of China in Taiwan Prefecture, Fujian Province. In 1812, the Diaoyutais were placed under the administration of the Kavalan Office of the Taiwan prefectural government, he added, pointing out that the Record of Missions to Taiwan and Adjacent Waters 《臺海使槎錄》 and the Illustrations of Taiwan 《全臺圖説》 prove that China effectively ruled over the Diaoyutai Islets during the Qing Dynasty.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Diaoyutai Islands.

Synonyms

• Diaoyu / Tiaoyu, Diaoyutai / Taioyutai, Diaoyu Islands / Tiaoyu Islands
• (from Japanese) Senkaku Islands
• Pinnacle Islands

Translations

Senkaku Islands — see Senkaku Islands