The Senkaku Islands Territorial Dispute Between Japan and China

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Recommended: The theory of realism and its criticisms

The Senkaku island group is consisted of eight islets that are located in the East China Sea. Also known as the Diaoyu Islands by the Chinese, these uninhabited islands and rocks add up to a total land area of a little more than 6 kilometer. Given the relatively small size of the islands, it may seem paradoxical that they have been raising humongous tensions between Japan and China and can potentially be a source of war in East Asia. The two great powers in the region share a long history of fighting over the sovereignty of the islands, and the fragile balance between them was seriously challenged in 2012 when Japan decided to bring three Senkaku islets under state ownership. Students of International Relations have tried to explain the Japanese move by using theoretical tools, and one of the mainstream theories in the discipline is realism. Although the realist explanation appears to be quite convincing at first sight, its usefulness in providing a complete answer as to why Japan chose this specific policy of nationalization in 2012 is to be questioned. The purpose of this essay is to argue that realism fails to explain the Japanese policy due to the theory's inherited defects and limitations. The first part of the essay will be an introduction to the brief history of the Sino-Japanese territorial controversies over the Senkaku Islands. After that, Japan's decision to purchase the islets will be examined from a realist perspective, and the weaknesses of the theory will be revealed. Lastly, a conclusion will follow to review the major arguments of this essay.
The Japanese claim of sovereignty over the area can be traced back to 1895, when it formally annexed the Senkaku Islands that were said to be "terra nullius" ("land belonging...

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Ramos-Mrosovsky, C. (2008). International law's unhelpful role in the Senkaku Islands. University of Pennsylvania Journal of International Law, 29, 903-989. Retrieved from http://query.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/search/q?kw=International+Law%27s+unhelpful+role
Smith, P. J. (2013). The Senkaku/Diaoyu Controversy. Naval War College Review, 66(2), 27-44. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1345597427?accountid=14771
Snyder, J. (2004). One world, rival theories. Foreign Policy, 145, 52-62. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/224031565?accountid=14771

Suganuma, U. (2000). Sovereign rights and territorial space in Sino-Japanese relations: irredentism and the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands. Honolulu: Association for Asian Studies and University of Hawai'i Press.

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