On the other hand, Japan argues that the islands were terra nullius
(land belonging to no one) and that China acquiesced to Japanese
sovereignty
• It highlighted, among other things, that the Meiji government
granted approval to a private individual of Okinawa for the use of
the islands thus proving Japan’s control over the group; it disputed
the inclusion of the group when Taiwan was ceded to Japan by the
Qing Dynasty
• Perhaps, more importantly, Japan has been exercising
administration of the group since 1972 when the US ended its
control from 1945 to 1972; to buttress Tokyo’s control, three of the
islands were purchased by the government from the “private
owner” in 2012