What is theft? The explanation in the Chinese dictionary is to steal someone else's property, which means to get something illegally. This behavior is shameful, and brings no good to those who commit it.

The dispute between China and Japan over the Diaoyu Islands seems complicated, but if closely looked into, we will find that the entire dispute stems from Japan's attempt to steal the Diaoyu Islands.

The Diaoyu Islands belong to China and have nothing to do with Japan. Japan has tried every means and made up excuses to prove that the Diaoyu Islands are its territory. Japan claimed that it is Japanese traders who first discovered the islands and the islands are Japan's inherent territory. It is simply confusing right and wrong and trying to cover up its robbery.

Both historical records and maps prove that the Diaoyu Islands belong to China. The islands were named Diaoyu first, records of which appeared in documents of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). The Japanese name, the Senkaku Islands, was first used by Japanese scholar Hisashi Kuroiwa in 1900.

History also proves that China was the first country to carry out fishing activities around the islands, and included them in maritime defense areas as the affiliated islands of Taiwan.

According to research done by well-known Japanese historian Kiyoshi Inoue, before Japan's Meiji Restoration in 1868, no documents concerning the islands could be found in Japan or Okinawa save for Chinese documents.

It is evident enough that the owner of the Diaoyu Islands is China, not Japan. It's not the case that as long as Japan changes the name of the Diaoyu Islands, the islands would become theirs. It's like a car thief, who steals another's car and puts a new plate on it, believe this makes the car his own and hoping no one will find out.

Such behavior is only self-deception. The right of ownership will never change no matter how the thief covers his behavior up.

Another piece of evidence is that Japan has a guilty conscience about its actions of seizing the Diaoyu Islands.

Documents from the Meiji Restoration period from the National Archives of Japan, the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records and the library at the National Institute for Defense Studies show clearly that the government of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911) had the sovereignty of the Diaoyu Islands.

In 1885 when Japan first conducted field research on the islands, it didn't carry out any actions out of fear of the Qing government's countermeasures.

Only after the first Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95, when the Qing government's defeat was definitely settled, did Japan's cabinet hold secret meetings and decide to seize the islands.

If it is Japan that discovered the islands first, as Japan has claimed, why didn't the Japanese cabinet hold the discussion openly rather than clandestinely? We can imagine the reasons for Japan's furtiveness. Japan's claimed survey of the Diaoyu Islands is nothing but an attempt to cover up its theft.

No matter how Japan plays with the islands, it can't change their ownership as time passes by. The islands have to be returned to China sooner or later. The tag of "China's sovereignty" on the islands can never be wiped away.

The central Japanese government's "purchase" of the islands, which aims at changing their ownership, is futile and ineffective. It only exposes the fact that the Diaoyu Islands were stolen by Japan and lets the world know the truth about the dispute.

It is hard fact that Japan stole the Diaoyu Islands from China. There's no way it can deny that. We'd like to advise Japan to stop its illusions and have the courage to correct its mistake.

Japan should hold talks with China and solve the dispute in a manageable way. 

The author is a commentator with the People's Daily. The article is the first in a series on the Diaoyu Islands originally published in the newspaper. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn