Japan’s Diplomatic Tensions With China and South Korea Intensify Over Disputed Islands
Japan controlled the Senkaku Islands until after World War Two. At that time, they came under temporary control of the United States. China does not recognize the nineteen fifty-one Treaty of San Francisco, under which Japan transferred control of the islands to the United States.
In nineteen seventy-two, the United States transferred the islands back to Japan. They represent not only important natural resources, but also a source of national pride in both Japan and China. Taiwan also claims the islands.