The Conflict Over the Sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands -- between Taiwan (ROC), China (PRC), & Japan from 123 to 124.34 degrees. For the relative location of the Diaoyu Islands, they are approximately 170 kilometers northwest from Ishigakijima Island, 170 kilometers northeast of the island of Taiwan, 330 kilometers southeast of continental China, and 410 kilometers west of the island of Okinawa. Thus, they are situated more or less in the center of the sea separating Japan, China, and Taiwan. These islands were also located on the Kuroshio (black current)'s northern flow, which causes the same seasonal monsoon with Taiwan. Since the Kuroshio and Oyashio interchange around these islands, it creates a gratitude scale of whirlpool (the
Mainland China ROC referred to the PRC as "Communist China"" (). With the democratization of Taiwan in the 1990s, the phrase "mainland China" soon grew to mean not only the area under the control of the Communist Party of China, but also a more neutral means to refer to the People's Republic of China government; this usage remains prevalent by the KMT today. Due to their status as colonies of foreign states during the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, the phrase "mainland China" excludes Hong Kong and Macau. Since the return of Hong Kong and Macau to Chinese