ID :
162337
Sat, 02/19/2011 - 17:18
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/162337
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Edano views disputed islands off Hokkaido
NEMURO (KYODO) Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano viewed disputed northern Pacific islands held by Russia from the air Saturday and expressed his eagerness to seek a breakthrough in the territorial row between Japan and Russia.
Edano, who doubles as minister in charge of Northern Territories issues, took in an aerial view of the islands off Hokkaido aboard a Japan Coast Guard airplane. The Cabinet Office said he is the first incumbent top government spokesman to view them.
''I'm sure Japanese people will show more interest in and raise their voices on the territorial issue once they realize that the islands lie very close to them, as I just did,'' Edano told reporters afterward.
''I hope negotiations (with Russia) will make substantial progress in a calm environment,'' he said, adding that Tokyo remains firm in its position that the islands belong to Japan.
His trip came as the spat over the islands has spiked due to a series of visits there by top Russian officials, including President Dmitry Medvedev, which started last fall. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan earlier this month described Medvedev's trip to one of the four islands in November as an ''unforgivable outrage.''
On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing Edano's comments, saying that conducting negotiations in a quiet environment was contradictory.
Moscow has increasingly shown a hardline stance despite Japan's claim that the islands are an integral part of its territory.
After his viewing, Edano met in Nemuro with former residents of the disputed islands who asked for the row to be resolved as former islanders are growing old.
Edano responded, ''We will think of ways to hand down the thoughts of former islanders to children and help give a boost to diplomatic negotiations.''
The islands -- Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group -- are known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. The Soviets' seizure of them after Japan's surrender in World War II has prevented the two nations from signing a postwar peace treaty.
Edano, who doubles as minister in charge of Northern Territories issues, took in an aerial view of the islands off Hokkaido aboard a Japan Coast Guard airplane. The Cabinet Office said he is the first incumbent top government spokesman to view them.
''I'm sure Japanese people will show more interest in and raise their voices on the territorial issue once they realize that the islands lie very close to them, as I just did,'' Edano told reporters afterward.
''I hope negotiations (with Russia) will make substantial progress in a calm environment,'' he said, adding that Tokyo remains firm in its position that the islands belong to Japan.
His trip came as the spat over the islands has spiked due to a series of visits there by top Russian officials, including President Dmitry Medvedev, which started last fall. Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan earlier this month described Medvedev's trip to one of the four islands in November as an ''unforgivable outrage.''
On Saturday, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement criticizing Edano's comments, saying that conducting negotiations in a quiet environment was contradictory.
Moscow has increasingly shown a hardline stance despite Japan's claim that the islands are an integral part of its territory.
After his viewing, Edano met in Nemuro with former residents of the disputed islands who asked for the row to be resolved as former islanders are growing old.
Edano responded, ''We will think of ways to hand down the thoughts of former islanders to children and help give a boost to diplomatic negotiations.''
The islands -- Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group -- are known as the Northern Territories in Japan and the Southern Kurils in Russia. The Soviets' seizure of them after Japan's surrender in World War II has prevented the two nations from signing a postwar peace treaty.
