The Potsdam Declaration was issued on 26 July 1945 in the name of the governments of the United States, the Republic of China, and the United Kingdom. The part relevant to Japan's post-war territories is as follows:

(8) The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.

In 1971, the People’s Republic of China joined the United Nations, replacing the Republic of China.

In 1972, the U.S. government returned the islands to Japanese administration.

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Appendix 1 - The text of the Potsdam Declaration:

(1) We-the President of the United States, the President of the National Government of the Republic of China, and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, representing the hundreds of millions of our countrymen, have conferred and agree that Japan shall be given an opportunity to end this war.

(2) The prodigious land, sea and air forces of the United States, the British Empire and of China, many times reinforced by their armies and air fleets from the west, are poised to strike the final blows upon Japan. This military power is sustained and inspired by the determination of all the Allied Nations to prosecute the war against Japan until she ceases to resist.

(3) The result of the futile and senseless German resistance to the might of the aroused free peoples of the world stands forth in awful clarity as an example to the people of Japan. The might that now converges on Japan is immeasurably greater than that which, when applied to the resisting Nazis, necessarily laid waste to the lands, the industry and the method of life of the whole German people. The full application of our military power, backed by our resolve, will mean the inevitable and complete destruction of the Japanese armed forces and just as inevitably the utter devastation of the Japanese homeland.

(4) The time has come for Japan to decide whether she will continue to be controlled by those self-willed militaristic advisers whose unintelligent calculations have brought the Empire of Japan to the threshold of annihilation, or whether she will follow the path of reason.

(5) Following are our terms. We will not deviate from them. There are no alternatives. We shall brook no delay.

(6) There must be eliminated for all time the authority and influence of those who have deceived and misled the people of Japan into embarking on world conquest, for we insist that a new order of peace, security and justice will be impossible until irresponsible militarism is driven from the world.

(7) Until such a new order is established and until there is convincing proof that Japan's war-making power is destroyed, points in Japanese territory to be designated by the Allies shall be occupied to secure the achievement of the basic objectives we are here setting forth.

(8) The terms of the Cairo Declaration shall be carried out and Japanese sovereignty shall be limited to the islands of Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as we determine.

(9) The Japanese military forces, after being completely disarmed, shall be permitted to return to their homes with the opportunity to lead peaceful and productive lives.

(10) We do not intend that the Japanese shall be enslaved as a race or destroyed as a nation, but stern justice shall be meted out to all war criminals, including those who have visited cruelties upon our prisoners. The Japanese Government shall remove all obstacles to the revival and strengthening of democratic tendencies among the Japanese people. Freedom of speech, of religion, and of thought, as well as respect for the fundamental human rights shall be established.

(11) Japan shall be permitted to maintain such industries as will sustain her economy and permit the exaction of just reparations in kind, but not those which would enable her to re-arm for war. To this end, access to, as distinguished from control of, raw materials shall be permitted. Eventual Japanese participation in world trade relations shall be permitted.

(12) The occupying forces of the Allies shall be withdrawn from Japan as soon as these objectives have been accomplished and there has been established in accordance with the freely expressed will of the Japanese people a peacefully inclined and responsible government.

(13) We call upon the government of Japan to proclaim now the unconditional surrender of all Japanese armed forces, and to provide proper and adequate assurances of their good faith in such action. The alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction.

Appendix 2: 中共對釣魚島主權的聲明

第一篇：《琉球群島人民反對美國占領的鬥爭》

人民日報 1958。08.19。  

琉球群島散布在我國台灣東北和日本九洲島西南之間的海面上，包括尖閣諸島、先島諸島、大東諸島、沖繩諸島、大島諸島、土噶喇諸島、大隅諸島等七組島嶼，每組都有許多大小島嶼，總計共有五十個以上有名稱的島嶼和四百多個無名小島，全部陸地面積為四千六百七十平方公里。群島中最大的島是沖繩諸島中的沖繩島（即大琉球島），面積一千二百十一平方公里；其次是大島諸島中的奄美大島，面積七百三十平方公里。琉球群島綿互達一千公里，它的內側是我國東海，外側就是太平洋公海。

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琉球人民反對美國變琉球為軍事基地、反對美國奴役統治爭取自由解放與和平的鬥爭不是孤立的，它是和日本人民爭取獨立、民主與和平的鬥爭分不開，也是和亞洲及太平洋區域人民以及全世界各國人民保衛和平的鬥爭分不開的，因而，雖然美國占領者對琉球人民實行野蠻鎮壓，但最後勝利必定是屬於琉球人民的

第二篇：《無恥的捏造》

人民日報 1958。03。26

琉球人民反對美國變琉球為軍事基地、反對美國奴役統治爭取自由解放與和平的鬥爭不是孤立的，它是和日本人民爭取獨立、民主與和平的鬥爭分不開，也是和亞洲及太平洋區域人民以及全世界各國人民保衛和平的鬥爭分不開的，因而，雖然美國占領者對琉球人民實行野蠻鎮壓，但最後勝利必定是屬於琉球人民的

周恩來總理早在1951年8月15日在“關於美英對日和約草案及舊金山會議的聲明”中，在駁斥美國對琉球群島、小笠原群島等保有“託管權力”說法的時候，就曾指出“這些島嶼在過去任何國際協定中均未稱被規定脫離日本”。中國紅十字會代表團副團長廖承志在去年訪問日本的時候，，，也曾表示中國人民支持日本人民爭取沖繩重歸日本的斗爭。我國報紙在過去的有關評論中，也一再對沖繩人民爭取生存和民主，要求把沖繩歸還日本的斗爭表示了同情和支持。