Territorial Disputes in East Asia - Revisited

In a previous post, I discussed the matter of territorial disputes in East Asia.

This week, the Korean foreign ministry convened a meeting with a Chinese diplomat after a Chinese government official claimed that China has territorial sovereignty over Ieodo (이어도), a reef submerged 4 meters under water about 200 km from the coast of Jeju island.  This was not the first time that China and Korea have had a disagreement over this reef.  Korea has built a research station on the reef, a picture of which can be seen here.

Some are questioning why China would do this at this time.  In an article published late last year, the Korean government was urged to press China on the Goguryeo question, arguing that rising nationalistic sentiments in both Korea and China will make it more difficult for Korea to reclaim the territory later on.  Could it be that China is trying to counter Korea's claim on Goguryeo?  Or is China seeking some strategic advantage in some other aspect of its relationship with Korea?


At the same time, Japan is more and more aggressively claiming Dokdo (독도).  Last year, a number of Japanese school textbooks were changed to portray Dokdo as Japanese territory.  And a few Japanese politicians tried to make Japan's claim on Dokdo a major political issue within Japan.  These actions were decried as harmful to the rebuilding of the relationship between Korea and Japan.

But Japan is facing a similar claim on islands near its territory, by Russia.  The islands of Habomai and Shikotan, part of the Kuril island chain, are claimed by Japan, but currently controlled by Russia.  Evidence of this dispute can be found in surprising places, like on this street-side billboard in Hiroshima:

The Japanese rising sun over Habomai and Shikotan islands, on a billboard in Fukushima.