BEIJING - Chinese state media used the 70th anniversary of the Cairo Declaration on Dec 1 to invoke the historical document as an argument against Japan's claim over an island chain.

Beijing wants the document back in world view as it stakes claim to the islands it calls Diaoyu and known as Senkaku in Japan.

"Major world powers should abide by the terms of the Cairo Declarationin order to avoid confrontations in East Asia," the China Daily quoted Chinese observers as saying.

In the declaration, China, US and Britain proclaimed that Japan must return all territories taken from China before World War II. The official Xinhua news agency said the islands were then affiliated to Taiwan, which made Chinese sovereignty "uncontestable".