beforehand and avoided entering the islands’ twelve-mile territorial sea. 73
The Chinese government also reiterated its claims to the islands, but again called on all parties to shelve the issue of sovereignty and jointly develop the area’s fishing and natural resources. 74 That offer was not taken up by any of the parties involved, but this time China did not take any concrete action to back up its claim, probably out of gratitude to the Japanese government for being the first major government of the world to resume bilateral aid to China after the Tiananmen Square incident. 75 Aside from the fact that China has been the largest recipient of Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) since 1979, Japan’s ODA to China in 1990 alone amounted to US$723 million in loans and grants. 76 The island issue then remained dormant until July 1996, when the Seinensha erected another lighthouse on one of the Senkakus and started another fracas.
The fourth incident: the Kita-Kojima lighthouse (1996)
On 14 July 1996, while the Japanese Diet was debating a bill which would announce Japan’s 200-mile EEZ, members of the largest right-wing Japanese nationalist group, the Nihon Seinensha, built a 5-meter-high solar-powered aluminum lighthouse on one of the smaller disputed islands named Kita Kojima. Supposedly done for the sake of maritime safety, Seinensha’s action was more likely carried out to give substance to the government’s impending 200-mile EEZ declaration, anticipating that the government would involve the country in some maritime boundary dispute with its neighbors once the declaration came into force. True to Seinensha’s anticipation, the Japanese government asserted on 20 July its claim for exclusive economic development rights within the 200-mile EEZ around the disputed islands and the rest of Japan, although it is doubtful according to UNCLOS III if uninhabited or uninhabitable rocks like the Senkakus qualify for an EEZ. At a press conference called by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the press secretary denied any territorial dispute regarding the Senkaku Islands, which he referred to as an integral part of Japanese territory under the effective control of Japan, although he did confirm that a lighthouse had been constructed on Kita-Kojima, and that the MSA was then patrolling the area. However, it was significant that he chose to dodge the “hypothetical” question as to what the Japanese government would do if Japan’s sovereignty were violated, leading one to conclude that the Japanese government was not ready to exacerbate this particular dispute by resorting to military action, at least not at that moment. 77
To reiterate Japan’s claims over the islands, another nationalist group calling itself the Senkaku Islands Defense Association erected a Japanese flag on the largest island of Uotsuri. 78 After a typhoon destroyed the one-month old lighthouse in August, the Nihon Seinensha again sent some of its people to repair it and put up more flags and a memorial plaque the following month. Coming before the 18 September anniversary of Japan’s invasion of China, this could not have been better timed to provoke the reaction of both the Chinese and its own government. On 30 September Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, leader of the LDP, who had once served as chairman of the “Japanese Association of Bereaved Families of the War Dead,” announced that his party would support Japan’s claims to the islands, probably with a view to capturing the nationalistic vote in the Diet elections set for 20 October. The election saw Hashimoto retain the premiership, more seats for the LDP, and the JSP being replaced as the main opposition party by the Shinseito (New Frontier Party), a new political party formed in 1993 whose main differences with the LDP were over domestic rather than foreign policy. 79 Together, both conservative parties controlled 80 percent of the seats in the Japanese Diet
The Chinese government also reiterated its claims to the islands, but again called on all parties to shelve the issue of sovereignty and jointly develop the area’s fishing and natural resources. 74 That offer was not taken up by any of the parties involved, but this time China did not take any concrete action to back up its claim, probably out of gratitude to the Japanese government for being the first major government of the world to resume bilateral aid to China after the Tiananmen Square incident. 75 Aside from the fact that China has been the largest recipient of Japanese Official Development Assistance (ODA) since 1979, Japan’s ODA to China in 1990 alone amounted to US$723 million in loans and grants. 76 The island issue then remained dormant until July 1996, when the Seinensha erected another lighthouse on one of the Senkakus and started another fracas.
The fourth incident: the Kita-Kojima lighthouse (1996)
On 14 July 1996, while the Japanese Diet was debating a bill which would announce Japan’s 200-mile EEZ, members of the largest right-wing Japanese nationalist group, the Nihon Seinensha, built a 5-meter-high solar-powered aluminum lighthouse on one of the smaller disputed islands named Kita Kojima. Supposedly done for the sake of maritime safety, Seinensha’s action was more likely carried out to give substance to the government’s impending 200-mile EEZ declaration, anticipating that the government would involve the country in some maritime boundary dispute with its neighbors once the declaration came into force. True to Seinensha’s anticipation, the Japanese government asserted on 20 July its claim for exclusive economic development rights within the 200-mile EEZ around the disputed islands and the rest of Japan, although it is doubtful according to UNCLOS III if uninhabited or uninhabitable rocks like the Senkakus qualify for an EEZ. At a press conference called by Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), the press secretary denied any territorial dispute regarding the Senkaku Islands, which he referred to as an integral part of Japanese territory under the effective control of Japan, although he did confirm that a lighthouse had been constructed on Kita-Kojima, and that the MSA was then patrolling the area. However, it was significant that he chose to dodge the “hypothetical” question as to what the Japanese government would do if Japan’s sovereignty were violated, leading one to conclude that the Japanese government was not ready to exacerbate this particular dispute by resorting to military action, at least not at that moment. 77
To reiterate Japan’s claims over the islands, another nationalist group calling itself the Senkaku Islands Defense Association erected a Japanese flag on the largest island of Uotsuri. 78 After a typhoon destroyed the one-month old lighthouse in August, the Nihon Seinensha again sent some of its people to repair it and put up more flags and a memorial plaque the following month. Coming before the 18 September anniversary of Japan’s invasion of China, this could not have been better timed to provoke the reaction of both the Chinese and its own government. On 30 September Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, leader of the LDP, who had once served as chairman of the “Japanese Association of Bereaved Families of the War Dead,” announced that his party would support Japan’s claims to the islands, probably with a view to capturing the nationalistic vote in the Diet elections set for 20 October. The election saw Hashimoto retain the premiership, more seats for the LDP, and the JSP being replaced as the main opposition party by the Shinseito (New Frontier Party), a new political party formed in 1993 whose main differences with the LDP were over domestic rather than foreign policy. 79 Together, both conservative parties controlled 80 percent of the seats in the Japanese Diet
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