Japan brings up territorial spat, denies visas to Russian businessmen
Published: 10 November, 2009, 18:43
Edited: 04 May, 2010, 17:30
TAGS: Conflict, Asia, Russia, Politics
Russian businessmen due to represent the Sakhalin region in Tokyo next week have been denied visas for Japan. Russia’s Foreign Ministry has called the move unacceptable.
The administration of the Sakhalin region has agreed with a number of Japanese organizations to hold a presentation of the region in Tokyo on November 17-19.
“The event was supposed to introduce the region’s potential to official, business, political and social groups of Japan and was meant to promote the development of mutual profitable cooperation, including trade and economic spheres, between the region and Japanese partners,” Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday.
On top of refusing the Russian businessmen entry to Japan, the Japanese side also made it clear that Russian entrepreneurs who have their business on the islands but formally living elsewhere are also not welcome.
Tokyo explains the move by saying the long-running heated debate over whom the Kuril Islands belong to complicates economic cooperation between Japan and Russia’s Northern Territories and will not be eased as long as Russia stands firm on its ownership, the Russian Ministry said.
Russia strongly condemned the move.
“The approach taken by the Japanese side goes against the statement of the Japanese government about its intensions to comprehensively develop relations with Russia as its partner in the Asia-Pacific region,” the Foreign Ministry underlined.
The decision to deny visa entries for the Russian businessmen indeed seems to be politicized, said Dmitry Streltsov, the deputy head of the Eastern Studies Department in Moscow State University of International Relations, to RT.
“The Japanese government might not be free from political motives in its actions,” Dmitry Streltsov said. “But even amidst frosty political relations, regional ties develop pretty successfully between the two countries, such as humanitarian exchanges, emergency services, transport relations, and more.”
The territorial dispute between Russia and Japan over the Kuril Islands has been causing a stir in relations between the two for a long time. The region was annexed by the Soviet Union as a result of World War Two. Japan claims the territories to be its own and demands them back.
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The problem, Marzipan6 is that neither Russia nor the Soviet Union have ever really had very good relations with Japan. The Russians have an economy largely based on the export of raw materials while Japan lacks such materials and has an economy based on exports of finished products and luxury goods. On the face of it it sounds like a perfect relationship, but in reality the Russians are trying to move away from exporting low tech raw materials and become an exporter of goods and services with domestic raw materials. I would rather see Russia with a good relationship with China and South Korea than with Japan, which is already clearly in the US camp and not really interested in cooperation with Russia under any circumstances. I think any concessions Russia might make will not be enough to draw Japan away from the US, and that is not a criticism, simply a fact.
You’re right, Garry, “Russia doesn’t have to do anything.” It can stay in the northern Kuriles until the next Ice Age if it wants to, and I doubt that anyone can push it out. But if it wants to have normal relations with its neighbours, and especially with a neighbour as potentially important and valuable as Japan, it has to moderate its behaviour to fit in with expected norms. Self-interest and no great enthusiasm for historical honesty make it terribly hard for Moscow to acknowledge occupation that Russians have worked on others. For example, to this very day Moscow still holds to the absolutely absurd notion that its three Baltic neighbours committed joint national suicide in 1940 by willingly, voluntarily and entirely legally joining Stalin’s Soviet Union, and eagerly stayed there for 50 year because they loved it so much. Moscow asserts that there never even was a Soviet occupation of the Baltics, and its claim about its on-going non-occupation of Japanese territory in the northern Kuriles is of a similar historical and ethical quality. Japan’s war in Mongolia may be evaluated as harshly as you like, and I doubt that many Japanese themselves try to justify it. But that war has no bearing on the illegitimacy of Russia’s continuing occupation of Japan’s Northern Territories.
exactly Gary... you understand the situation. Mister Marzipan has trouble to see and recognize the 'game' that is being played between the 2 countries. it goes like this between any country. these discussions are very similar to the kind of these old bring cnn debates like 'was east europe really liberated, or occupied?' .... throw in a few pictures of stalin, and there you have it; russia the boo-man. the other party(s) the victim. it is very fortunate for Russia to have leaders like Putin and Medvedev, they are very aware of this and know how to deal with it. for all the crimes japan has commited during these years, it should just accept the reality of today, learn, shut up, cooperate with the other countries, heal wounds and look forward. no wonder some non-russian people admire the Russians so much these years.... and please dont forget; Japanese have a thing for winning/losing face. they like to win, but hate to lose. I hope the war has been enough to demonstrate my point. nobody likes losing, and everybody likes winning, the japanese have taken this to another level tho. i dont know about the future. people change. countries change. Japan; you have been a very bad boy, you lost what you had in mind and what you were doing. this is your karma. the Kuril Islands are now from a big country with huge land masses and strong people. A country which is not your best friend. so what. this is the situation now, accept it. Welcome to the world, and dont ever ry to do what you tried before. ever again. everybody will lose, including yourself (as you can see). Cheers