新闻英语文章

新闻英语：Ambassador: Diaoyu Islands are

Chinese

驻英大使《每日邮报》撰文：钓鱼岛是中国的

British

newspaper The Daily Telegraph's website on Wednesday published an

article written by

the Chinese

ambassador to Britain that states the "purchase" of

the Diaoyu Islands by

the

Japanese

government is invalid, and nothing can change the fact the islands

are the territory of China.

The opinion

piece, written by Ambassador Liu Xiaoming argues that the Cairo

Declaration, published on Nov 27, 1943, stated in explicit terms:

"All the territories Japan has stolen from the Chinese, such as

Manchuria, Taiwan and the Pescadores, shall be restored to the

Republic of China. Japan will also be expelled from all other

territories she has taken by violence and greed".

The

declaration was further supported by the Potsdam Proclamation,

released on July 26, 1945.

"The terms of

the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out," the proclamation

said.

Liu wrote

that these documents show the Diaoyu Islands are China's

territory.

"The Japanese

government accepted the Potsdam Proclamation in the Japanese

Instrument of Surrender, and pledged to faithfully fulfill its

obligations stipulated in the provisions of the Potsdam

Proclamation," Liu wrote.

"All of these

facts show that in accordance with the Cairo Declaration, the

Potsdam Proclamation and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender,

Diaoyu Dao, as affiliated parts of Taiwan, should be returned,

together with Taiwan, to China," Liu wrote.

Liu also

compared the different attitudes of Germany and Japan following

World War II. In 1970, West German Chancellor Willy Brandt traveled

to Poland and dropped to his knees before the monument to the

Warsaw Ghetto uprising of 1943.

"Many in the

world were deeply moved by this famous gesture of repentance and

apology. The extraordinary courage and sincerity of Germany won it

trust and respect."

Unlike

Germany, Liu wrote, Japan has never seriously reflected on its

militarist past or made a serious apology. "Such a remorseless

attitude has made it difficult for Japan to earn the trust of its

neighbors and the forgiveness of people around the

world."

Displaying

total disregard for the post World War II agreements, Japan

implemented its plan of "purchasing" China's Diaoyu Islands, he

wrote.

Liu stressed

that the so-called "purchase" of the Diaoyu Islands is illegal and

invalid and cannot change the fact that the islands belong to

　

　China.

Historical

records show it is an indisputable fact that the Diaoyu Islands

belong to China. China's Ming and Qing dynasties exercised

sovereignty over the islands.

The Diaoyu

Islands and its affiliated islands were marked on maps as Chinese

territory in the early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).

According to

Liu, the British authorities supported China's sovereignty with

maps, including A New Map of China from the Latest Authorities,

that was published in Britain in 1811, and A Map of China's East

Coast: Hong Kong to Gulf of Liao-Tung, that was compiled by the

British Navy in 1877. Both maps marked the Diaoyu Islands as

Chinese territory.

This year

marks the 40th anniversary of the normalization of China-Japan

relations. The two countries had planned to celebrate a Year of

Friendly Exchanges between the Chinese and Japanese people and

nearly 600 events were planned.

However, Liu

noted, all plans were shelved following Japan's illegal "purchase"

of the Diaoyu Islands. "It is imperative that Japan respects

history and facts," Liu wrote.