On 14 January 1895, Japan annexed the collection of islands known in English as the Pinnacle Islands, but more commonly referred to by their respective Chinese and Japanese names, the Diaoyu Islands and the Senkaku Islands. These islands were unlawfully annexed from the Qing Dynasty of China by Japan during the First Sino-Japanese War, and the rest of Taiwan was seized by Japan at the end of the war in the Treaty of Shimonoseki. This treaty was superseded by the Treaty of San Francisco that demanded Japan return Taiwan and all associated islands to China. By this treaty Japan should not still have control of the Pinnacle Islands, and the fact that they do is an insult to all the lives lost to bring and end to Japanese imperialism.



