Thread by @RnaudBertrand

Important story that's been completely missed by Western media but is making the round in China.

In retaliation to Japan increasing support for Taiwan independence, China has started to put its weight behind the independence of the Ryukyu Islands (Okinawa, etc.)

A small 🧵

As a background to this, Ryukyu Islands have only been part of Japan since 1879, when it was annexed and renamed as "Okinawa Prefecture".

Before this it was an semi-independent state (tributary state to China) during 500+ years, called Ryukyu Kingdom.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryukyu_Ki…

Interestingly at the end of WW2, the Postdam declaration, which the Japanese accepted when they surrendered, determined that "Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku" 🔽 so Okinawa wasn't there...

It's only in 1971, in the context of the cold war, that the US unilaterally (the Potsdam declaration being multilateral) decided to return the place to Japanese sovereignty with the signing of the "Okinawa Reversion Agreement".
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Okin…

So back to today. China recently did a series of move with regards to Ryukyu/Okinawa.

First Wu Jianghao, the Chinese ambassador to Japan, met with Yoshimi Teruya, deputy governor of Okinawa, in Tokyo for a long closed-door meeting.

The outcome of the meeting was an announcement that China would now be officially calling Okinawa prefecture by its old name "琉球", i.e. Ryukyu.

Everyone can appreciate the symbolism here...

It was also decided that China would open a regional diplomatic office in "Ryukyu" and that the current Governor of Okinawa Prefecture, Denny Tamaki, would visit China in mid-May this year.

Another sign of China's position is that Qing Gang, China's Foreign Minister, during a keynote speech on April 21st at Lanting Forum referenced both the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation (in relations to Taiwan), both of which state that "Ryukyu" isn't part of Japan.

One also needs to remember that Okinawa is critically important for the US military, with 70%+ of the land in Japan that is exclusive to US military facilities concentrated in Okinawa (31 US military installations on the island)

I.e. This is China telling Japan and the US: if you incite Taiwan independence, we'll do the same with Ryukyu.

And interestingly China positions itself as guarantor of the post-WW2 order with reference to Potsdam (which says Taiwan is part of China but Ryukyu not part of Japan).