Japanese marines in amphibious assault vehicles stormed an island beach at the edge of the East China Sea on Sunday in a simulated attack to dislodge invaders from territory that Tokyo worries is vulnerable to attack from China.
Wait, I’m confused. So the history of the Ryukyu Islands is that they were claimed by China until the First Sino-Japanese War, at which point they fell to the Japanese. Then, after WW2, the US takes over jurisdiction of the islands as war reparations under the Treaty of San Francisco (which China, naturally, wasn’t invited to and received basically nothing from).
So, today, the Americans have a bunch of military bases there, China claims a few small islands there, Japan claims the entire chain, and the people of the island themselves want independence.
Wait, I’m confused. So the history of the Ryukyu Islands is that they were claimed by China until the First Sino-Japanese War, at which point they fell to the Japanese. Then, after WW2, the US takes over jurisdiction of the islands as war reparations under the Treaty of San Francisco (which China, naturally, wasn’t invited to and received basically nothing from).
So, today, the Americans have a bunch of military bases there, China claims a few small islands there, Japan claims the entire chain, and the people of the island themselves want independence.
Fuck, eh?