钓鱼岛的历史 History of the DiaoyuIslands

History of the DiaoyuIslands

The Diaoyu Islands, located in theEast China Sea between China and Japan, have belonged to Chinasince ancient times. The islands are 120 nautical miles northeastof China’s Taiwan Province, 200 nautical miles east of China’smainland and 200 nautical miles west of Japan’s southernmost islandOkinawa.

钓鱼岛位于中日之间的中国东海，自古以来就属于中国。钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿位于中国台湾省东北120海里，中国大陆东侧200海里，日本最南端的冲绳岛以西200海里。

Geologically the islands are attachedto Taiwan. The waters around the islands are 100 to 150 meters deepand there is a 2,000-meter-deep oceanic trench between the islandsand Japans’ Okinawa Islands. Fishermen from China’s Taiwan, Fujianand other provinces conducted activities such as fishing andcollecting herbs in the area for millennia.

从地理上讲，钓鱼岛隶属台湾。该岛附近水域水深100至150米，与日本琉球岛之间有2000米深的海沟。中国台湾、福建以及其他省份的渔民数千年来都在这一海域进行捕鱼和采集海草作业。

The islands have appeared on China’smaps since the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). There are records notingthe islands in a book published during the rule of Emperor Yongle(1403-24) in the Ming Dynasty, more than 400 years before Japanclaimed discovery of the Diaoyu Islands in 1884. After the MingDynasty, the islands were recorded in many historical documents. Ona map published by Japan between 1783 and 1785, marking theboundary of the Ryukyu Kingdom, the Diaoyu Islands were shown asbelonging to China.

钓鱼岛在明朝(1368-1644)就已经在中国地图上得到标注。在明朝永乐年间出版的书籍也对钓鱼岛有记载，这比日本在1884年声称发现了钓鱼岛早了400多年。明朝以后，钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿在许多历史文献中都有所记载。在1783年至1785年间日本出版的地图上标注有琉球过的边界，钓鱼岛被标注为中国领土。

Japan never questions China’ssovereignty over the islands until the Sino-Japanese War of1894-95. In Aprial 1895, the Government of the Qing Dynasty(1644-1911) was forced to signthe Treaty of Shimonoseki,under which China ceded the whole island to Taiwan and itssurrounding islands, including the Penghu Archipelago, to Japan.Only since then has Japan had its own name for the area where theDiaoyu Islands are located. Before that, Japanese maps marked theislands by their Chinese names.

日本在1894-1895年的中日甲午海战战之前从未质疑对这些岛屿的国家主权。1895年4月，清政府(1644-1911)被迫签署《马关条约》割让台湾岛和周边岛屿，包括澎湖列岛给日本。从那时起，日本给钓鱼岛起了日本名字。在这之前，日本地图都是将这些岛屿标注为中国领土。

Japan was occupied by theUnited States after it was defeated in World War II. In 1951, Japanand the United States illegally signed a treaty in San Franciscowithout the presence of China, which was one of the victorcountries in World War II. While Article Two of the treaty saidthat Japan surrendered its claim over Taiwan and the PenghuArchipelago, Article Three assigned the Diaoyu Islands, which Japanhad taken from China, to the Ryukyu zone, which was under U.S.control. Then Chinese Premier Zhou enlai lodged a strong protestand said the Chinese Government would never recognize the SanFrancisco Treaty.

二战后，日本战败被美国占领。1951年，日本和美国在没有中国这一二战战胜国出席的情况下，在旧金山非法签署《日美安保协定》。该协定第二条规定日本放弃其对台湾和澎湖列岛的所有权，第三条规定将从占领中国的钓鱼岛及其附属岛屿纳入琉球管辖区，并由美军控制这一地区。中国时任总理周恩来对此提出强烈抗议，称中国政府永远不会承认《日美安保协定》。

In a statement on territorial watersin 1958, the Chinese Government said that Japan should return allthe territory of the People’s Republic of China, including Taiwanand its surrounding islands, to China.

1958年中国政府对钓鱼岛海域提出主权声明，要求日本将这些岛屿归还给中华人民共和国，包括台湾及其周边岛屿。