“Illegal occupation by Russia”: Japan tightens rhetoric on the Kuril Islands

“Occupation” of the Kuril Islands

“Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi spoke at the cabinet meeting on April 22 about the diplomatic blue book for 2022. The Northern Territory of Japan (South Kuril Islands – socialbites.ca) “belongs to Japan, but is currently illegally occupied by Russia its principled position that it is a “region where informs Kyodo Agency.

The article states that the term “illegal occupation” of the southern Kuril Islands has been used for the first time since 2003, and for the first time since 2011 the designation as “land belonging to Japan” has been used.

It is noted that the head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan changed its attitude towards Russia “in light of the occupation of Ukraine”. The Russian Federation was also accused of “violence that undermines the foundations of international order, including in Asia, such as the prohibition of the use of force and the rule of law”. Regarding the negotiations on the status of the South Kuril Islands, the document says that the Japanese side “failed to evaluate its expectations”.

As a result of the Second World War, the islands of the Southern Kuril ridge – the group of islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Khabomai – came under the control of the Soviet Union. Since then, the Japanese have been debating Russian sovereignty over them. At the same time, relations between the two countries are complicated by the absence of a peace agreement.

In 1956, the USSR and Japan signed a Joint Declaration, in which Moscow agreed to consider the possibility of transferring Habomai and Shikotan to Japan after the signing of a peace treaty, but the status of Kunashir and Iturup was not mentioned in the document. While the Soviet Union hoped that the Joint Declaration would bring an end to the conflict, Japan saw the document as only part of the solution, without giving up claims to all the islands of the South Kuril ridge.

Subsequent negotiations yielded no results and World War II. The peace treaty at the end of World War II was never signed. Moscow, II. of the islands. It insists that it was part of the USSR after World War II, and Russia’s dominance over the islands is beyond doubt.

In March 2021, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the country wanted to resolve the issue of ownership of the South Kuril Islands through dialogue with Russia, based on the Joint Soviet-Japanese Declaration of 1956.

“It is not easy to solve the 70-year post-war unsolved problem, but I intend to make every effort to do so, based on the fundamental position,” he said.

However, after Russia launched special military operations in Ukraine, Japan began to impose sanctions against the Russian Federation. In response to “Tokyo’s unfriendly steps,” Moscow abandoned peace treaty negotiations, stopped Japanese visa-free travel to the Kuril Islands, and withdrew from dialogue on establishing joint economic activities there.

“The Russian side does not intend to continue negotiations for a peace treaty with Japan, due to the impossibility of discussing the signing of a fundamental document on bilateral relations with a state that, in the current circumstances, is openly hostile and seeks to harm the interests of the United States. In the statement made by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, it was called “our country”.

Rivalry between the USA and China

In addition, the Blue Paper described China as expanding its military activities “for the security of the region, causing strong concern for Japan and the international community”. And in the document the situation in the modern world was called the interstate rivalry between the United States and China.

“Today, the international community is going through dramatic changes. In a free, open and stable international order, China and other emerging markets and developing countries benefit from globalization, gain strength and expand their presence,” says the blue book.

“The world has effectively moved from a time when the United States, together with advanced democracies, took the lead in promoting the stability and prosperity of the international community with the help of its overwhelming political, economic and military power, entering the era of Sino-American interstate rivalry,” said the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

The Kyodo article states that this is the first time that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has made such an assessment of the state of the world community. In the Blue Book, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs also condemned North Korea’s missile launch.