Political and economic wrangles At the same time, the governments on both sides of the Taiwan Strait insisted that the Diaoyutais were by geographical, historical, and legal criteria part of Chinese territory. Against this backdrop was born the "Diaoyutai Protection Movement" of the 1970s, led by Taiwanese students studying abroad, which clashed several times with Japan over its claims to sovereignty over the islands.
政治與經濟的糾結與此同時，中華民國台灣及中國大陸則皆認為，釣魚台列嶼依地理、歷史和法理來看，均應為兩岸中國的固有島嶼，與強硬主張擁有釣魚台主權的日本屢有衝突，1970 年代以台灣海外留學生為主體的「保釣運動」，便在此背景下應運而生。