Senkaku Islands

Senkaku Islands, small group of uninhabited islands and rocks in the East China Sea. They lie about 105 miles (170 km) northeast of Taiwan and roughly the same distance north of Ishigaki Island in Okinawa ken (prefecture), Japan. They are administered by Japan, which incorporated them in 1895, but they are also claimed by China (which calls them the Diaoyu Islands) and Taiwan (which calls them the Diaoyutai Islands). The cluster consists of five islands and three rocks. They have a total land area of about 2.7 square miles (7 square km). Most of the islands are composed of sedimentary rock, though some are volcanic in origin. Their terrain varies but is generally rugged and rocky, with steep coastal cliffs in some areas.

The United States took control of the Senkaku Islands from Japan after World War II. In 1969 a United Nations report cited studies suggesting the possibility of large oil reserves in the surrounding seabed. In 1971 both China and Taiwan asserted sovereignty claims. Administrative control of the islands was returned to Japan in 1972 along with Okinawa.

Tensions between China and Japan have periodically flared over the islands, particularly since 2012, when the Japanese government purchased several of them from private owners, prompting protests in China and increased maritime patrols by Chinese vessels in nearby waters. Although no armed conflict has occurred, the islands remain a persistent source of friction in Sino-Japanese relations.