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A Japan-based society seeking independence for the Ryukyu Islands claimed recently that Japan regards Ryukyu as its own subject.

Ryukyu independence movement [Photo / Global Times]

The founder of the Ryukyu National Independence Comprehensive Research Society maintains that Ryukyu is not a vassal state of China either. He said that the inhabitants of Ryukyu are seeking greater respect and recognition globally. The Japanese government has distanced itself from all claims of, and calls for, independence.

Ryukyu independence movement makes progress

May 15 of this year marked the 41st anniversary of the return of Okinawa to the Japanese government following the end of the Allied Occupation at the conclusion of the Pacific War.

On this day, a group of Okinawa residents established the Ryukyu National Independence Comprehensive Research Society, which is devoted to the cause of Ryukyuan independence with the aim of establishing what it calls the Republic of the Ryukyus.

The society has claimed that its existence is necessary due to the fact that "Japan and the United States have treated Ryukyu differently, which amounts to colonization." The newly-founded society also plans to issue a declaration of independence in the event that more than half of the islands' population votes in favor of the motion in a future referendum. This would be followed by an application to join the United Nations as a member state.

One of the society's short-term goals is to be listed with the UN Special Committee on Decolonization.

Disappointment during Qing Dynasty

Ryukyu independence is, in fact, an old topic and the islanders have been ceaseless in their quest for independence since Japan's annexation of the old kingdom.

The Ryukyu Islands was originally an independent kingdom. During China's Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, the Ryukyu Kingdom paid continuous tributes to Chinese emperors and the kingdom was deeply influenced by China's politics, culture and economy. Classical Chinese was even once the official language of the Ryukyu Islands.

Feudal warlords in Satsuma Doman (modern day Kagoshima County) sent an expeditionary force to conquer the Ryukyus before the subsequent invasion in 1609. The king was taken prisoner and transported to Satsuma and later to Edo (modern day Tokyo).

In 1879, Japan officially seized the Ryukyu Kingdom before establishing Okinawa County. Some of the resistance force was exiled to China and continued to push for an end to Japanese rule. Between 1879 and 1885, they launched some 28 petition letters to the Qing government to request assistance.

Their hopes, however, were dashed by the inaction of the corrupt and chaotic Qing government which failed to provide any concrete assistance to their cause. China's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894-1985) also dented hopes of any recovery for Ryukyu.

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