At the centre of the row are eight small and uninhabited islands, known as the Senkaku Islands in Japan and the Diaoyu Islands in China. Both countries are interested in the islands for their potentially valuable gas reserves. Both sides point to 1895 as a key year in their complicated dispute over the islands. Japan claims that in January that year – around the same time it defeated China and colonised Taiwan – that it had taken owenership of the islands. It is also quick to point out that the uninhabited islands showed no trace of having been under the control of China’s Qing Dynasty. However, China claims the disputed … Continue reading Al Jazeera and agencies