Existing archives already hold truth

Japan claims it discovered the islands in 1884. But the Meiji government, following a cabinet decision in early 1895 when China and Japan were at war, incorporated the islets.

Japan asserts that China did not object to the annexation. That is true. Japan never negotiated with China. It never made public its claim to the Diaoyu Islands till 1950.

The way Japan annexed the Islands was not the procedure in accordance with international law. Japan usurped the islands using the turmoil of war as a cover.

In his 2004 book The Dispute Over the Diaoyu Islands, Murata called the Japanese occupation of the Diaoyu Islands in 1895 nothing but "robbery".

Japan argues that for 10 years starting 1885, Japan conducted field surveys on the Diaoyu Islands, scrupulously confirming that the islands had never been inhabited and showed no traces of having been under the control of China's Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

Records show that British naval ships had to obtain permission from the government of Qing Dynasty to enter the waters off the Diaoyu Islands decades before Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom.

Murata says his books are aimed at ending them is understandings between Japan and China. He calls for the whole world to find a new initiative to settle the territorial dispute.

Two Chinese scholars - one from Taiwan and the other from Hong Kong - have turned to the archives of US Congress and dug out more evidence that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China. Their books are expected to be launched in the United States in May.

As more records covering the truth of the Diaoyu Islands are exposed, the world will know the right story of the islands. After all, the facts speak for themselves.

The author is China Daily's Tokyo bureau chief. caihong@chinadaily.com.cn

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