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：《琉球群岛人民反对美国占领的斗争》

人民日報 1958。08.19。  

琉球群岛散布在我国台湾东北和日本九洲岛西南之间的海面上，包括尖阁诸岛、先岛诸岛、大东诸岛、冲绳诸岛、大岛诸岛、土噶喇诸岛、大隅诸岛等七组岛屿，每组都有许多大小岛屿，总计共有五十个以上有名称的岛屿和四百多个无名小岛，全部陆地面积为四千六百七十平方公里。群岛中最大的岛是冲绳诸岛中的冲绳岛（即大琉球岛），面积一千二百十一平方公里；其次是大岛诸岛中的奄美大岛，面积七百三十平方公里。琉球群岛绵互达一千公里，它的内侧是我国东海，外侧就是太平洋公海。

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琉球人民反对美国变琉球为军事基地、反对美国奴役统治争取自由解放与和平的斗争不是孤立的，它是和日本人民争取独立、民主与和平的斗争分不开，也是和亚洲及太平洋区域人民以及全世界各国人民保卫和平的斗争分不开的，因而，虽然美国占领者对琉球人民实行野蛮镇压，但最后胜利必定是属于琉球人民的

第二篇：《无耻的捏造》

人民日報 1958。03。26

琉球人民反对美国变琉球为军事基地、反对美国奴役统治争取自由解放与和平的斗争不是孤立的，它是和日本人民争取独立、民主与和平的斗争分不开，也是和亚洲及太平洋区域人民以及全世界各国人民保卫和平的斗争分不开的，因而，虽然美国占领者对琉球人民实行野蛮镇压，但最后胜利必定是属于琉球人民的

周恩来总理早在1951年8月15日在“关于美英对日和约草案及旧金山会议的声明”中，在驳斥美国对琉球群岛、小笠原群岛等保有“托管权力”说法的时候，就曾指出“这些岛屿在过去任何国际协定中均未称被规定脱离日本”。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。