TOKYO, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Japanese government announced Friday it gave names to five uninhabited islands of Senkaku, or Diaoyu, island group in the East China Sea also claimed by China.
Two islands united with a small isthmus were named Nantokodzima, or South Eastern Small Island, while another three islands were named Nanseikodzima (South Western Small Island), Higasikodzima (Eastern Small Island) and Seikhokuseikodzima (Western Southwestern Smaller Island). The names will be used for new maps.
In total Japan has claimed about 500 remote islands, out of which 158 small uninhabited islands had no names before today. After the escalation of tensions with China, Tokyo decided to name the islands in order to better assert its sovereignty over them.
Ties between Japan and China have worsened after September 11, 2012, when the Japanese government purchased three out of the five Senkaku (Diaoyu) islands from a private Japanese owner paying nearly $30 million.
The islands dispute between China and Japan has gone on since early 1970s. Japan claims that it has occupied the islands since 1895 and before that they did not belong to anybody. Beijing assures that the islands were made part of the Chinese Empire as early as 600 years ago, and they were labeled as Chinese territories on Japanese maps made in 1783 and 1785.
After the World War II the islands remained under US control and were given to Japan in 1972 together with the island of Okinawa. Taiwan and Mainland China believe that the move was unlawful.
Tokyo now claims that the islands belong to Japan as they always were an inalienable part of the Okinawa Prefecture and the only reason China lays its claims to them is that the region is rich with natural resources.
