Petition for thought (Regarding China's claim on Senkaku)

Who should get the Senkaku Islands?

Japan	50.0%	[ 6 ]
China	8.3%	[ 1 ]
Taiwan	41.7%	[ 5 ]
Total Votes:			[ 12 ]

[Goldgato]

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/support-chinas-rightful-claim-pinnacle-islands/BvX1mQ4D

Basically my friend created this petition to support China's claim on the Senkaku Islands. Personally I won't sign it. It doesn't seem to me like China really has a strong claim, it just seems like land grabbing to me, especially since they argue that it's really a part of Taiwan, which they don't control. But I guess I just wanted to see what you all thought and this petition seemed like an interesting way to do it.

[METALFumasu]

Uhm yeah, ******** China on this one.

If I remember correctly, the first time that China started raising a fuss about the Senkaku islands was in 1972, after the US returned control of them to Japan, and only because a few years earlier a survey team suggested that their might be a huge-a** reservoir of "black gold" (oil) and/or natural gas beneath/near those five currently uninhabited islands.

Also, the Japanese formerly annexed those islands in 1895. The Chinese has been using the Potsdam Declaration as the basis for their claim, which basically said that Japan had to relinquish control of all islands except "Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyūshū, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine".

It should be noted that the Chinese (PRC) have occasionally extended their claim to the entire Ryukyu chain (including Okinawa). So for them, it's a nothing more than a land grab for potential nearby resources.

Taiwan has a more legit claim than mainland China on this one. For them, the Senkaku Islands have been historical fishing grounds since the time of their ancestors (according to the Taiwanese anyway).

Given all this saber-rattling, I could see the United States being dragged into the fray if China trys to assert its supposed sovereignty over the Senkaku islands militarily.

As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

[Admiral Dardanos]

If the children won't share, none of them get the toy.

So...

Can I have them?

[King Shining Heaven]

Lo, a white house petition about some islands in China? How much power do people think the government has? Anyway, China has enough land already; they don't need the Senkaku Islands

[geminikitten]

That'll never go through. One of the major reasons Japan is holding on so dearly is due to the strategic benefit that will provide China over Japan and subsequently, the US.

[imblaine2]

Queen Shining Heaven

Lo, a white house petition about some islands in China? How much power do people think the government has? Anyway, China has enough land already; they don't need the Senkaku Islands

Actually over this one a lot. It's not that we can force any country to do anything, but not helping them would have great impact on the situation as well. Say if China took the islands over with their military, what do you believe both Taiwan and Japan would do without U.S help? Go to war?
Simply stating not to help certain countries is enough to shift balance of power within certain regions of the world. But since Japan is a close U.S ally and used to assert U.S dominance in what would be a Chinese dominated area, I don't see us backing down from japan's side and if worst comes to worse fighting on their behalf.

[N3bu]

The PRC has really no claim since the Chinese government that last had any formal ownership of them was the ROC. The indigenous Taiwanese probably have the most claim but they have no central government authority that really represents them. Even the ROC itself hasn't had ownership of those islands for what? 120 years?

[Spierred]

I say all of those islands, the whole Ryukyu chain, should be rightfully returned to their own, sovereign government. They have their own culture, their own language, and they had their own government before Japan annexed them.

The individual islands, such as Okinawa, and the old Ryukyu government, should get a chance to decide whether or not they actually want to be a part of Japan. And those "islands" which are really rocks no bigger than my kitchen, should belong to that sovereign government, and that sovereign government should be able to choose what to do with them.