On The Diplomatic Representation Of Dongsa Island In Sino - Japanese

Pratas Archipelago is the closest reef island to the mainland amongthe four islands in South China Sea, which is made up of Pratas Island,Pratas Reef, Beiwei Bank and South Vereker Bank with the marine areasranging from Northern Latitude20°33′to21°58′and from EasternLongitude115°54′to116°57′. The total area is about1.8squarekilometers, which is similar to that of Yongxing Island in XishaArchipelago. Pratas Archipelago is one of the two islands with the largestcoverage among all the islands in South China Sea. In1866(The fifthyear during Tongzhi’s Reign in Qing Dynasty), the Englishman Pratassailed to the place near Pratas Island and found a safe shelter here toavoid the strong wind. Later, the western documents and maps name thisisland as “Pratas Island”. Moreover, these maps mark out that the islandbelongs to Guangdong, from which we can also see that there is no doubtthat the island is part of China’s territory.Pratas Archipelago and the nearby seas are affluent in naturalresources. The record of Chinese fishermen’s carrying out fisheryproduction can be traced back to Jin Dynasty. Till the end of QingDynasty, Pratas Archipelago has become one important fishery domainfor the fishermen who have also build a sea god-worshipping temple onPratas Island to show their reverence for Goddess Matsu and Kinggod.Therefore, the temple is also called “Tin Hau Temple” or “Dahuang Joss House”. Later, the fisherman Liang Sheng provided fund to restore thetemple. In addition, he built a temple to memorize the dead fishermen inPratas Island, called “Brother Temple”. Although a number of fishermenlost their lives in Pratas Island, there are still some fishermen going tothere continuously due to the abundant fishery resources. From this, wecan see the rewarding return the fishermen have got.Therefore, in the summer in1901(Meiji34Year in Japan), theJapanese merchant Nishizawa Yoshizi plundered and occupied PratasIsland illegally. He not only destroyed the previous houses built by theancestors on the island. Moreover, he ruined Tin Hau Temple worshippedby the fishermen. In addition, he changed Pratas Island into NishizawaIsland and intended to occupy the island permanently. The merchant’soccupation of Pratas Island first aroused concerns from Governor incharge of former Jiangnan and Jiangxi Province (i.e., Jiangsu, An’hui andJiangxi Province today), Duanfang who reported the situation to theMinistry of Foreign Affairs of Qing Government at the end of August in1907. Not until October7,1909, after the great efforts of Dunfang, theGovernor of Jiangnan and Jiangxi Province, Zheng Renjun, the Governorof Guangdong and Guangxi Province, Li Zhun, the Admiral Governorand other people, China succeeded in withdrawing the sovereignty ofPratas Island through diplomatic relations, which made greatcontributions to maintaining the sovereignty of marine islands in our nation.The Japanese merchant, Nishizawa Yoshizi’s occupation of PratasIsland, the Qing Government’s defensing the sovereignty of Pratas Islandand the later construction and economic development of the island are allof great historical significance. First of all, they give a warning to theQing Government and strengthened their awareness to protect the marinesovereignty. Second, after withdrawing Pratas Island, the QingGovernment began to pay attention to the island resources and carry outoperation and construction for Pratas Island. Last, the protection of thesovereignty in South China Sea after retrieving Pratas Island avoided theeastern and western countries from invading our national islandsovereignty temporarily. Recently, with the continuous discovery ofmarine resources and the emphasis on sea transportation security, somesurrounding states intend to occupy the islands in our country. Moreover,they have the intentions to challenge our territorial sovereignty byproposing various so-called historical, geographical or legal basis withthe purpose of legalizing their illegal invasion of our territorial right. Theissues of South China Islands are even more complicated. Vietnam,Philippines and other countries forcibly occupy the island in South ChinaSea. They even take advantage of the trend of the union of ASEAN tostrive for the support from the US, Japan and other countries againstChina. As a result, it is necessary to study the history, based on which we can conclude and explore into the precious experience and lessons inprotecting the island sovereignty. Taking the negotiation for example, thepaper analyzes the experience of the success in withdrawing thesovereignty of Pratas Island, which can provide references for our countryto solve the disputes on islands in China.