TOKYO, March 18 (UPI) -- China's foreign ministry has reproached the Japanese government for displaying a 1969 Chinese map of the Senkaku Islands that identifies the disputed territory by its Japanese name.

The Japan Times reported the Japanese foreign ministry's website released the map on Monday to show how neighboring China created surveys "on the premise the Senkaku islands are part of Japanese territory."

The map, Japanese foreign minister said, shows China's claim to the disputed islands has "no foundation at all."

Japan's foreign ministry states on its website China and Taiwan claimed the islands after the U.N. issued a report that the area held potential oil and gas reserves.

China swiftly responded to the official Japanese statement during a press briefing in Beijing.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Hong Lei said the map reflects Japan's aggression and its colonial legacy in Taiwan. Prior to the Sino-Japanese War that lasted from 1894 to 1895, Hong said Western maps marked the islands as belonging to China.

Japan has control of the Senkaku, or Diaoyu Islands, but China and Taiwan each claim the territory.

On March 2 Japan's Kyodo News reported a Taiwan-based group of activists requested Japanese facilities on the islands be taken down.

They also requested the Japanese government to remove the Japanese flag on the disputed territory, claiming Japan's moves violates a Taiwan-Japan fisheries pact that lets both countries to fish inside Japan's exclusive economic zone, that excludes 12 nautical miles of waters surrounding the Senkaku Islands.

Taiwan uses the name Tiaoyutai for the islands.

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Japan claims disputed islands with Chinese map from 1969