| Abstract | The latest crisis over the Diaoyu Islands (also called Diaoyutai, or Senkaku in Japanese, a derivation of their English name, "Pinnacle") has something of the surrealistic about it. These eight uninhabited (and uninhabitable) islands, have been under Japanese control since 1895, although they were under American administration between 1945 and 1972. At this point in time, an increasing number of Chinese, especially in Hong Kong, seem prepared to ask the International Court of Justice in the Hague to give a ruling on the dispute. Settled comfortably in a position of force, and denying the very existence of a territorial problem, Japan, however, vigorously rejects this proposal, even though such a solution could become an instructive and moderating precedent for solving the many insular conflicts plaguing East Asia. |
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