The Role of the Non-governmental Evidence in the Sovereign Diplomacy between China and Japan on Dongsha Island in the Late Qing Dynasty
In the early 20th century,the sovereignty dispute between China and Japan over Dongsha Island ended in the victory of the Qing government,but in the process of the diplomatic negotiation with Japan and due to the lack of the effective official evidence of governance,the Qing government on the one hand adopted the cited domestic and oversea historical materials to prove the fact that Dongsha Island was in the territory of China for a long time,and,on the other hand,it actively used the oral testimony and documentary evidence of Chinese fishermen to prove that it was Chinese fishermen that first discovered,named,managed and developed Dongsha Island.In the Qing government's diplo-matic negotiation,Zhang Renjun,minister of the Qing government,led his team to demonstrate the"initial discovery"and other core issues related to the international law in combination with the evi-dence of Chinese fishermen,successfully maintained China's sovereignty over Dongsha Island,and made Japanese businessmen bear the claim for losses on the islands and pay taxes in return,declaring to colonialism that China's maritime territorial sovereignty was sacred and inviolable.As a successful diplomatic event in the defense of the border sovereignty in early modern history when lacking con-crete official materials for the sovereignty,the use of the non-governmental evidence in the sovereign diplomacy for the first time in the diplomatic event between China and Japan on Dongsha Island can shed some light on the current relevant issues.
non-governmental evidenceDongsha Islanddiplomatic negotiation between China and Japanpublic international lawargument for sovereignty
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