Tiao Yu Tai Movement 1971

Tiao-yu Tai Special, March 1971,
figure 1.Sub-sea oil fields found near Taiwan and Korea

Tiao-yu Tai Special, March 1971,
figure 2. Oil in Southeast Asia

In 1971, what has become known as the Tiao-Yu Tai Movement brought thousands of overseas Chinese professionals and students across U. S. college campuses into political activism. The Tiao-Yu Tai Movement (TYTM) involved protests against Japan’s colonization of eight fishing islands called Tiao-Yu Tai, located 120 miles from Taiwan and 240 miles from Okinawa. Historically Chinese territory until Japan’s invasion in 1894, the islands were returned to China after World War II. Because of the islands’ proximity to Taiwan, the islands fell under Taiwan’s jurisdiction. Then in 1968 with the discovery of sub-sea oil fields in the region, Japan began to claim the islands as Japan’s territory again. A U.S. endorsed plan to turnover the islands to Japan ignited large Chinese student protests in Hong Kong and elsewhere. In nationwide protests called by the National Diao-Yu Tai Action Committee, thousands of overseas Chinese students marched against Japan’s attempts to take the islands.