Regarding the renaming of the Diaoyutai Islands to “Tonoshiro Senkaku” by Japan’s Ishigaki City today (June 9), the KMT issues the following statement:
1. The sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islands undoubtedly belongs to the Republic of China (ROC), whether from historical documents, or from the perspectives of geography or international law. Any actions by the Japanese government, whether central or local, cannot alter this undeniable truth.
2. In 1972, the United States of America unilaterally transferred the “administrative rights” of the Ryukyu Islands and the Diaoyutai Islands to Japan, resulting in controversies to this day. Japan has had no right to claim the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islands.
3. In the Ma Ying-jeou presidency, the government of the Republic of China issued an elaborated statement, both in Chinese and in English, on the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islands. Moreover, with its insistence on the sovereignty of the Republic of China, the Ma administration ensured the rights and interests of Taiwanese fishermen fishing around the Diaoyutai Islands in the “Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement” signed at the time.
4. The KMT has always supported domestic and international peaceful claims that the Diaoyutai Islands belongs to the Republic of China, and it advocates for the peaceful settlement of disputes.
5. Unfortunately, it is unbearable to see that since the DPP has once again become the ruling party of the Republic of China, it has ignored Japanese government vessels illegally and repeatedly driving our fishermen away, demonstrating that the DPP government has been unable to defend the sovereignty of the Islands as well as the fishing rights. It is the solemn demand of the KMT that President Tsai Ing-wen and the DPP government should no longer be weak. They must defend by all means necessary the Republic of China’s sovereignty over and fishing rights around the Diaoyutai Islands, as well as the safety of Taiwanese fishermen, or they will have failed the people of our country.
