Japanese Man Stopped by Russian Authorities on Disputed Island

Moscow, Aug. 21 (Jiji Press)--A Japanese man has been stopped by the Russian border guard while on a visa-free trip to Kunashiri, one of the four Russian-held northwestern Pacific islands claimed by Japan, informed sources said Sunday. The man was stopped for questioning following luggage checks conducted when he was going to leave Kunashiri, the sources said. It is very unusual that a Japanese citizen has been detained while visiting any of the four islands under a bilateral visa-free exchange program. The program, which started in 1992 under an agreement between Tokyo and Moscow, allows visa-free exchanges between Japanese citizens and Russian residents of the islands. Japan is likely to demand an early release of the man through diplomatic channels. Japan sees a detention of any Japanese citizen by Russian authorities on the four islands as unacceptable because Tokyo does not recognize Moscow's administrative rights over them. The islands were seized by the former Soviet Union from Japan at the end of World War II. The latest case may affect bilateral relations at a time when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to visit Vladivostok in Russia's Far East on Sept. 2-3 to hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Abe-Putin meeting is expected to focus on the territorial dispute. The two countries are also scheduled to hold talks in Moscow Friday to resolve the dispute and conclude a bilateral peace treaty. Russian media said on Sunday that a Japanese man was detained in Yuzhno-Kurilsk on Kunashiri Saturday for attempting to bring out 4 million yen in cash which was undeclared at the time of entering the island. In July last year, a Japanese fishing boat operating in waters near the four islands was taken to Kunashiri after being detained by Russian authorities. In 2006, a Japanese fisherman died after a Russian patrol boat opened fire on a Japanese fishing boat illegally operating near the islands. END