Part of: GS Prelims and Mains II – International Affairs
In news:
Japan approved plans to change the name of the area covering the Tokyo-controlled Senkaku Islands — known by Taiwan and China as the Diaoyus — from “Tonoshiro” to “Tonoshiro Senkaku”.
China said the move is illegal and a “serious provocation”.
Senkaku Islands are at the centre of a festering row between Japan and China.
The Senkaku Islands dispute, or Diaoyu Islands dispute, concerns a territorial dispute over a group of uninhabited islands located in East China Sea known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan, the Diaoyu Islands in the China.
It is roughly to east of mainland China, northeast of Taiwan, west of Okinawa Island, and north of the southwestern end of the Ryukyu Islands.
They are currently controlled by Japan. But both China and Taiwan claim sovereignty over the islands.
Oil and gas reserves had been identified under the seabed surrounding the islands and it makes the dispute tougher to resolve.
