Source： Taiwan Today
PHOTO: MOFA reiterates ROC sovereignty over the Diaoyutai Islands March 28 after the Japanese government’s approval of high school textbooks claiming them for Japan. (CNA)

The Diaoyutai Islands are part of ROC territory, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said March 28 after Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology approved high school textbooks referring to the archipelago as belonging to Japan.

MOFA has instructed the ROC representative office in Japan to voice its protest to the Japanese government and to restate the ROC’s position on the matter.

It also urged the Japanese government to handle the issue carefully by adopting a rational and peaceful attitude, and not to issue textbooks that give one-sided and inaccurate information, so as to prevent harm to ROC-Japan relations.

The MOFA further noted that the Diaoyutais, located 170 kilometers northeast of Taiwan proper, are administered by Toucheng Township, Yilan County.

The ministry’s comments came just one day after it dismissed the Japanese government’s March 26 assertion that Diaoyutai’s Northern Islets are part of the “the national assets of Japan.”

Earlier this month, the Japanese government laid claim to sovereignty over the entire Diaoyutai group, known in Japan as the Senkaku Islands, incorporating them into the country’s exclusive economic zone.