December 7, 2025

An academic roundtable was held at the Department of History of Peking University under the theme "Ryukyu and Okinawa in the Postwar 80 Years" on Saturday. Nearly 30 experts and scholars from multiple research institutions engaged in in-depth discussions on key topics, including China-Ryukyu-Japan relations during the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), Japan's colonial nature, and contemporary military risks.

Wang Xiaoqiu, a professor at the Department of History of Peking University, stated that after the Meiji Restoration in the 19th century, Japan embarked on external expansion and gradually annexed Ryukyu through military means. The so-called "disposition" of Ryukyu in 1879, which abolished the Ryukyu Kingdom and turned it into the Okinawa Prefecture, was an act of colonial aggression with no support from any international treaties.


"Japan's annexation of Ryukyu had neither a legal foundation nor compliance with principles of international law or the consent of the Ryukyuan people. It was outright colonial expansion," Wang said. He noted that during the Qing Dynasty, China and Ryukyu maintained a longstanding tributary relationship with extensive documented exchanges. Japan's unilateral actions were never recognized by the Qing government nor broadly acknowledged by the international community.

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