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After World War II, all territory under the Treaty of Shimonoseki was transferred to the Treaty of San Francisco, giving control to American forces. The Senkaku islands were then used as an American bomb-testing site throughout the mid twentieth century. In 1972, the United States removed their occupation and gave back the islands to Japan via the Okinawa Reversion Agreement (Tisdall, 2012). But by this time, a UN geological survey (1968) found that the five islands held substantial oil and gas reservoirs, which ultimately led to three countries making their claim of ownership. .
In the late 1970s, China and Japan arranged to enter a stalemate agreement and put aside the islands and the dispute they caused (McDevitt, 2014). However, in recent years, the two countries have revisited the dispute that continues to be a source of strain and anxiety for the United States, Japan and China. Tension began in 2010 when a Chinese fishing trawler rammed into two Japanese coast guard vessels near the Senkakus, resulting in the first public dispute over the islands. When China's demands for the crew and vessel to be released were not met, they halted all meetings and exchanges with Japan, eventually forcing them to release the detainees (Fackler & Johnson, 2010). In the end, China was seen as the victor, which eventually sparked a nationalist battle between the two countries. .
What started as a simple territory dispute turned into a personal confrontation between two historical enemies. The war torn history of Japan and China is a large part of why the two governments refused to surrender. The Chinese need for redemption and competition stems from their multiple past defeats by the Japanese empire, a history the Sino nation will not soon forget (Swaine, 2013). In addition, since the UN convention on the Law of the Sea was ratified in 1982, Japan has ranked higher than China in Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) ("Sino-Japanese", 2012).
