The Research On International Law Issues Of China And Its Neighbors’ Islands Sovereignty Disputes

Territory, as one of the national elements, symbolizes national dignity, and is the material basis for the survival of the country and the people. It is of great significance in international law. However, due to various factors, some lands(such as the remote islands) are in dispute. With the rapid development of economy and the improvement of country strength, some countries’ ambition is increasing. These countries make troubles and confuse the public through war, public opinion of diplomacy, etc. for the purpose of violating the territory. China, as the largest developing country, is also facing some territorial disputes. The most typical one is the sovereignty dispute in the southeast coast.First of all,we shall be clear that what is “island”. Surrounding by water, higher than the water surface at a high tide, natural formation and land areas are the four factors of the island. Eight countries have maritime disputes with China and the islands involved include Diaoyu Islands, Ryukyu Islands, Huangyan Island, Zhongye Island, Xiyue Island and so on. Diaoyu Islands and Huangyan Island are regarded as the representatives of the East China Sea dispute and the South China Sea dispute. In history, Diaoyu Islands have been China’s territory. Japan successfully invaded the coveted Diaoyu Islands through the “Treaty of Shimonoseki” of Sino-Japanese War. After World War II, Japan should have returned the occupied territory in accordance with the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, but with the participation of the United States, Diaoyu Islands was controlled by Japan through “San Francisco Treaty of Peace with Japan” and “the Okinawa Reversion Agreement”, which is unreasonable. Huangyan Island, belonging to the Zhongsha Islands in the South China Sea, has been the territory of China, which has never been questioned by any country in the past. But since the 1990 s, with support of the United States, the Philippines began a blatant provocation, and even led to the Huangyan Island standoff in 2012.The fact that Diaoyu Islands and Huangyan Island belong to China is discussed from the historical and legal perspective by looking up huge amounts of data in this paper. In addition, it also analyzes the connotation of the rule of effective control, the standard and other related principles through the international cases, which confirms the importance of the territorial sovereignty dispute between countries, that is to say, control is playing an active. And it analyzes the sovereignty dispute between Indonesia and Malaysia and Dokdo dispute between Japan and South Korea and learns some successful experience. By looking up huge amounts of historical data and academic work, the method of empirical analysis, comparative analysis and historical analysis is used to solve the disputes of the East China Sea and the South China Sea. It starts from rights protection and public opinion. Rights protection includes promoting legal construction, strengthening the naval forces and establishing administrative divisions; public opinion includes carrying out diplomatic activities actively, implementing the strategy of sea power, collecting evidences and doing propaganda work. It is hoped that China will be able to peacefully solve the sovereignty disputes with neighboring countries at an early date and to proceed ahead on the road of national revival.