British Perspective On The Diaoyu Islands Issue

The Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands are an inalienable part of China.With the discovery of potential oil resources near the Diaoyu Islands,the dispute over it is becoming increasingly hot.The study of the Diaoyu Islands is not only of academic value,but also conducive to safeguarding national interests and safeguarding the integrity of our territory and sovereignty.Previous studies on the Diaoyu Islands mainly focused on the three countries and four sides,the mainland China,Taiwan,Japan and America.When I read the British diplomatic archives,I found that Britain has a large number of records on the Diaoyu Islands issue.The Britain has also participated in several important events related to the Diaoyu Islands.New information can be received from the perspective of Britain.This article makes use of The Literature Collection of the Diaoyu Islands Issue to get a lot of related information from American diplomatic documents,US security records,British diplomatic documents,American documents in Japan,the literature of Ming and Qing Dynasties,Ryukyu negotiation files during late Qing Dynasty,files in Academia Sinica,archives in Academia Historica,newspapers and magazines,documents about Protecting the Diaoyutai Movement.At the same time,after analyzing "Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S.Samarang",Japanese diplomatic documents and British diplomatic documents,not only new information about British attitude to the Diaoyu Islands in each historical period and in several historical events has been discovered,but also a new reflection on the future development of the relationship between China and Britain has been got.The first chapter of this paper introduces the British earliest descriptions of the Diaoyu Islands "Narrative of the voyage of H.M.S.Samarang" and translates the journal content involving the Diaoyu Islands.Due to the unfamiliarity with these islands and the accompanying Chinese crew is the Taiwanese people,names about the Diaoyu Island and its affiliated islands have some mistakes.Because British and Japanese records took the marine diary as the reference,it also caused confusion of the island naming in the later data,and some trouble for finding the evidence for the settlement of disputes in the later period.At the same time,from the early British Navy documents,although the British discovered the Diaoyu Islands very early,they were not interested in it,and thought the uninhabited islands belonged to China.The second chapter discusses the change of the British attitude before and after Sino-Japanese War and the "Treaty of Shimonoseki".The Britain who tried to intervene but gave up in the end,remained neutral before the signing of the" Treaty of Shimonoseki".After the signing of the "Treaty of Shimonoseki" Britain didn't participate in the triple intervention event.Taiwan and its affiliated islands should be ceded to Japan.Qing government hope the Britain can intervene but after weighing the advantages and disadvantages,the Britain refused.Although the Britain referred to the Diaoyu Islands in documents,they felt the intervention of ceding Taiwan and its affiliated islands was more harmful than that of the benefit and they remained neutral because of the interests of the state.The third chapter of this article discusses the attitude of Britain in the drafting and signing of Treaty of Peace with Japan.The Britain especially put forward their own views on the content of the Treaty about the territory and Taiwan.but in this period the British opinion is largely consistent with America.The Britain considered its international status and chose to cooperate with America.At that time,there were two regimes in China.The Britain has its own attitude towards the two regimes,which is very smooth.The fourth chapter of this article discusses the attitude of Britain after the discovery of the Diaoyu Islands oil resources in 1970s.This section introduces the emergence and authenticity of the argument "Shelving Disputes" proposed by China and Japan,and the British view of it.It also introduces the attitude of the Britain to contemporary problems about the Diaoyu Islands,such as territorial rights issues and the Protecting Diaoyu Islands Movement.It digs into the reasons for Britain's "no stand" in a series of events.The conclusive chapter of this paper summarizes the new information obtained from the British research perspective of the Diaoyu Islands.When seeing the Britain's reaction in several historical events,we found the final attitude of Britain is neutral,no opinion and not to intervene.This is the continuation of "isolationism" and"diplomacy of balance of power" pursued in British history.The study of the British perspective will also help us reflect on the development of the relationship between China and Britain in the future.Only by pursuing independent diplomacy and strengthening cooperation with Britain can we coexist peacefully and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.The "British Perspective" of this article actually refers to two aspects:on the one hand,it means that some new information on the Diaoyu Islands issue can be obtained from the archives of the United Kingdom,helping to sort out issues,and even providing some new evidence;on the other hand,It refers to the study of British foreign policy by observing the British attitude in the fermentation process of the Diaoyu Islands Dispute,which will help the contemporary Sino-British diplomatic relations get better development in the future.From the British perspective on the Diaoyu Islands issue,we jump out of the previous research "since ancient times"circle and gain new information and insights from another perspective.The Diaoyu Island issue is not only a historical issue but also a practical issue.The academic research on the Diaoyu Islands issue has its significance not only at the academic level but also to some extent to seek solutions to the political problems.