Japan lawmaker calls for economic coop with RF on S Kurils.

13/11 Tass 70

TOKYO, November 13 (Itar-Tass) - Chairman of the commission on foreign
affairs of the lower house of Japan's parliament Muneo Suzuki calls for
economic cooperation with Russia in the South Kurils area - both at sea
and on the land.


He made this statement to Itar-Tass on the eve of a
meeting between the two countries' leaders that is expected to be held
within the framework of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)
summit in Singapore on November 14-15.
"We have agreed to advance towards the territorial issue settlement,"
the parliamentarian said. "Until its final settlement it is possible and I
believe, it is necessary to develop economic cooperation in the zone of
the islands - both at sea and on the land. I think that Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama shares this view," he stated.
At present Tokyo officially opposes any economic contacts with the
South Kurils apprehending that they can indirectly confirm Russia's
sovereignty there. It is event prohibited to Japanese citizens to freely
travel to these islands, because this requires visas. Only the system of
visa-free exchanges is working, but the exchanges have a rather limited
framework and are not spread to the economic relations.
In the late 1990s, Moscow and Tokyo agreed to hold consultations on
the joint industrial activity on the South Kurils, staring, in particular,
from cooperation in the seafood reproduction sphere. However, this
dialogue yielded no result. In late October, Russian Deputy Foreign
Minister Alexei Borodavkin told Itar-Tass in Tokyo that Moscow supports
the idea of joint economic activities in the South Kurils. "We are ready
to search for the acceptable for both sides legal registration of such
projects that would not damage the positions of the two countries on the
territorial problem," the diplomat said. "Such projects could create an
atmosphere of trust, cooperation and partnership not only in this region,
but on the whole between our states. This would also contribute to the
settlement of the issue on the signing of a peace treaty. If the Japanese
side is ready to meet us halfway on this track we are ready to proceed to
the practical work," the RF deputy foreign minister noted.
The Kuril Islands dispute, also known as the Northern Territories
dispute, is a dispute between Japan and Russia over sovereignty over the
South Kuril Islands. The disputed islands, which were occupied by Soviet
forces during the Manchurian Strategic Offensive Operation at the end of
World War II, are under Russian administration as South Kuril District of
the Sakhalin Oblast, but are claimed by Japan, which refers to them as the
Northern Territories, being part of the Nemuro Subprefecture of Hokkaido
Prefecture. The San Francisco Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and
Japan from 1951 states that Japan must give up all claims to the Kuril
islands, but it also does not recognize the Soviet Union's sovereignty
over the Kuril Islands. Russia maintains, that Soviet Union's sovereignty
over the islands was recognized following agreements at the end of the
Second World War, however Japan has disputed this claim. The disputed
islands are: Iturup Kunashir, Shikotan, Habomai rocks.
Russia maintains that all the Kuril Islands, including those that
Japan calls the Northern Territories, are legally a part of Russia as a
result of World War II, and that this acquisition was as proper as any
other change of international boundaries following the war. Moscow cites
the following basic points:
The explicit language of the Yalta Treaty gave the Soviet Union a
right to the Kurils, and the Soviet Union upheld its own obligations under
that treaty.
The nation of Russia inherited possession of the islands from the
former Soviet Union, in accordance with international law.
The Japanese assertion that the disputed islands are not part of the
Kurils is simply a tactic to bolster Tokyo's territorial claim and is not
supported by history or geography.
Russia has said it is open to a negotiated "solution" to the island
dispute while declaring that the legality of its own claim to the islands
is not open to question. In other words, Japan would first have to
recognize Russia's right to the islands and then try to acquire some or
all of them through negotiations.
The dispute over the Kuril Islands was further exacerbated on July 16,
2008, when the Japanese government published new school textbook
guidelines directing teachers to say that Japan has sovereignty over the
Kuril Islands. The Russian Ministry of Foreign affairs announced on July
18, "[these actions] contribute neither to the development of positive
cooperation between the two countries, nor to the settlement of the
dispute" and reaffirmed its sovereignty over the islands.
Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev
met in Sakhalin on February 18, 2009 to discuss the Kuril Islands issue.
Aso said after the meeting that they had agreed to speed up efforts to
resolve the dispute so that it would not be left to future generations to
find a solution.
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