All I've found is a twitter thread, anarticle on on an obscure chinese news site, but it appears that, apparently in response to overtures by the US and Japan toward the government of Taiwan, the Chinese ambassador Wu Jianghao, has held talks with the deputy governor of Okinawa, Yoshimi Teruya, and held a lengthy meeting.
Following the meeting, the Chinese diplomat stated that, "China would now be officially calling Okinawa prefecture by its old name "琉球", i.e. Ryukyu," the name of the old kingdom that was occupied by Japan in 1879.
Given the existing tensions between Okinawa Prefecture and the central Japanese government, many Okinawans feel that they are 2nd class citizens, and they are the location the bulk of the US military presence in Japan, so it is fertile ground for secessionist sympathies.
It seems to me that the Chinese are sending a message on Taiwan.
I'm worried that this is going to escalate.
3 comments :
You may not be aware, but this is a long standing issue for the Chinese. They push it when they want to appear tough.
Considering that the Ryukyu Kingdom was a tributary of China, and that the transfer of the islands was made unilaterally by the US, it is not surprising that it was a long standing issue,
The tributary relationship was primarily a trade one, and the Ryukyu had a similar tributary relationship with Japan.
The Ryukyuan king was a vassal of the Satsuma daimyō until 1872. Japan order the tributary relationship ended in 1875, and annexed it in 1879, making kings were given a compensating kazoku rank as Marquis Shō Tai.
The United States had no role in that.
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