Bolshoi Ussuriiski/Heixiazi

Diaoyu Dao, Diaoyutai or Senkaku? Creative solutions to a festering dispute in the East China Sea from an ‘Island Studies’ perspective

“…This is the world's smallest shared and inhabited island jurisdiction. A condominium with alternating governance: Pheasant Island (Spanish: Isla de los Faisanes , French: Île des Faisans , Basque: Konpantzia ) is an uninhabited 2‐acre islet on the Bidassoa river and the Franco‐Spanish border. The island is under joint sovereignty of Spain and France, each of which control the island for alternating periods of six months – since the Treaty of the Pyrenees (1659) (Kliot and Newman, , 270). Heligoland for Zanzibar – a case of swapping one island unit for another, as agreed between Germany and Britain to resolve colonial squabbles in Africa, since 1890 (Drower, ). New Hebrides – a Condominium (co‐/parallel governance by Britain and France) from 1906 to independence as the Republic of Vanuatu in 1980 (Rawlings, ). Svalbard – Norwegian sovereignty, but open territory for commercialisation to treaty signatories since 1920 (Grydehøj et al ., ). Åland – a demilitarised autonomy, with protected Swedish culture and language, yet part of the sovereign state of Finland since 1921 (Hepburn, ). The separation of the Ellice islands (now Tuvalu) from the Gilbert Islands (now Kiribati) in 1978, suggesting that even small archipelagos with incredibly small populations can be validly split (McIntyre, ). Antarctica – Special regime, a global commons, governed by its own treaty – since 1959, and with all sovereignty claims temporarily suppressed (Dodds, ). Picton, Lennox and Nueva islands, with mediation by the Pope: the islands and 3‐mile territorial sea belong to Chile, while oceanic rights are shared by both Argentina and Chile, since 1984 (Guo, ). Shared jurisdiction – as with Ellis Island, USA – first landfall in North America for millions of migrants – between the (sub‐national) states of New York and New Jersey (since 1998), this proving to be a practical solution when the US Supreme Court found that the original island belonged to New York but the reclaimed land on the island belonged to New Jersey (Mottola, ). Shared, joint exploitation of natural resources, without compromising claims to sovereignty (Valencia, ) – and as is the situation with the Timor Sea Treaty between Timor Leste and Australia over resources in the Timor Gap – since 2002 (Schofield, ). Boris Ussuriiski/ Heixiazi – a 50–50 land division solution agreed to by Russia and China to stabilise their contiguous border along the Amur river, since 2004 (Iwashita, ). Transboundary protected areas as promoted by the IUCN‐World Conservation Union. A few of these are marine‐based and involve islands, such as the Wadden Sea area, in Northern Europe.…”