There is a mountain of historical evidence to indicate the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea have been Chinese territory since ancient times.

China has never renounced its inherent ownership over the archipelagoes, although they were once illegally snatched by Japan during its aggressive military expansion in the late 19th century.

The Japanese also occupied the islands for an extended period during the Cold War by taking advantage of the international circumstances of that period.

The Chinese Government since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949 has claimed on many occasions that China should enjoy indisputable ownership over these uninhabited isles.

To promote friendly relations and pursue a win-win compromise with Japan, late Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping proposed the two countries seek common exploitation of the islands while shelving disputes over the ownership of them.

Regrettably, the Japanese Government, backed by its current advantage of occupying the Diaoyu Islands, has always been unwilling to recognize the ownership dispute with China.

Tokyo has made no active response to China's workable proposal of "common exploitation'' of the Diaoyu Islands, and has even turned a blind eye to unbridled visits to the islands by Japanese right-wingers and other radical factions.

On related issues, such as its exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf in the East China Sea, the Japanese Government has consistently adopted the so-called "equidistant medium line'' principle in an attempt to expand its exclusive economic zone.

Certainly, the unilateral actions taken by the Japanese Government on the Diaoyu Islands, exclusive economic zones and continental shelves in the East China Sea fall short of foundation in international law.

They have encroached upon China's territorial and oceanic sovereignty, as well as its legitimate rights over the exclusive economic zone and continental shelves.

Japan's claim of ownership over the Diaoyu Islands is based on three reasons: First, when Japan found the islands, they were uninhabited. Second, Japan began to put them under its formal jurisdiction after it seized them in 1895. Third, the islands are part of Japan's Ryukyu Islands but not part of the Chinese Taiwan Island, and its ownership over Ryukyu Islands is recognized by the United States.

These reasons are all groundless.

As early as the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the Chinese central government folded the Diaoyu Islands into the coastal defence scope of Fujian Province. All later Chinese authorities put them under China's jurisdiction until they were snatched by Japan in 1895.

Japan's snatching of the Diaoyu Islands by force does not mean the ownership of them changed hands, just like Japan's occupation of Taiwan did not mean it enjoyed ownership of the island.

The Chinese Government has every reason to stand for the whole Chinese people to claim ownership of the Diaoyu Islands after New China was established in 1949.

Japan's third argument is not even worthy of refuting.

Anyone with a rudimentary knowledge of geography knows the Diaoyu Islands have no direct link with Japan's Ryukyu Islands.

The Diaoyu Islands lie on the periphery of the continental shelf in the East China Sea, divided from the Japanese Islands by the Okinawa Oceanic Trough.

According to the United Nations Convention of the Law of the Sea, the geographical scope of an archipelagic country includes the islands, waters, and other natural terrains that in essence constitute a geographical, economic and political entity.

It is a historical fact the Diaoyu Islands constituted an entity with China's other territories.

Geographically, the Diaoyu Islands lie 410 kilometres from Japan's Okinawa Islands, but only about 300 kilometres from the Chinese mainland and less than 100 kilometres from Taiwan.

Japan's argument that its ownership is recognized by the US is also shaky.

The United States, in its accord on returning Okinawa Island to Japan, said it would take a neutral stance towards any ownership disputes when it returned the islands gained from Japan during World War II, which included the Diaoyu Islands.

Japan's claim that there is no dispute with China over the ownership of the islands, the corresponding exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf is patently untrue.

It would be in Japan's best interests to join China in pursuing joint exploitation of the resources-rich islands and their adjacent waters in a peaceful, co-operative, and consultative spirit.

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