April 7, 2015
No. 058
The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology announced April 6 the results of a review of the country’s latest edition of secondary school textbooks. These carry the false claim that the Diaoyutai Islands, which are the sovereign territory of the Republic of China, are the inherent territory of Japan. The ROC government therefore lodged a stern protest at the Japanese move and reiterated its consistent and firm stance on the sovereignty of the Diaoyutai Islands, stating that any unilateral attempt to undermine ROC sovereignty over the islands is invalid.
The Diaoyutai Islands are an inherent part of the Republic of China and are islands appertaining to Taiwan, whether considered from the perspective of history, geography, geology, use, or international law. This is an uncontestable fact. The ROC’s unchanging position as concerns the Diaoyutai Islands is to safeguard sovereignty, shelve disputes, pursue peace and reciprocity, and promote joint exploration and development. The ROC calls on all parties concerned to adhere to the East China Sea Peace Initiative, to replace confrontation with dialogue, to shelve territorial disputes and engage in negotiation, to establish a code of conduct for the East China Sea and to jointly develop resources in the area so that the East China Sea becomes a sea of peace and cooperation.（E）