China has its eyes on Okinawa
As if the country isn’t involved in enough territorial disputes
When Xi Jinping strolled around the national archives in Beijing earlier this month, it seemed like a routine tour. China’s supreme leader commented on various items that piqued his interest, such as ancient scripts engraved on animal bone and an astronomical map from the Song dynasty (960–1279). But his remarks about a manuscript from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) received the most attention. It described old ties between the Chinese province of Fujian and the independent Ryukyu kingdom, a collection of islands that was later annexed by Japan and turned into Okinawa prefecture. The book, said a staffer, “plays an important political role”. Mr Xi responded that, having served as a senior official in Fujian, he was aware of the “deep” history of the exchanges.
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Eyes on Okinawa”
From the June 24th 2023 edition
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