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“Japan’s undermining of Russian sovereignty not tolerated” – Medvedev
Published: 29 May, 2009, 18:31
Japan's attempts to undermine the Russian sovereignty of the disputed Kuril Islands will not be tolerated, said President Dmitry Medvedev as he accepted the credentials of newly-appointed ambassadors in Moscow.
Blessed with a unique ecosystem, the Kuril Islands became part of Russia following an agreement reached at the Yalta Conference – the second of the two key WWII international conferences.
Tokyo refused to both recognize the Yalta Conference decision and sign a peace agreement with Moscow ever since.
Throughout the years Kuril Islands shifted from the focal point of Russian-Japanese relations to a background issue and back again, essentially remaining the most popularized Russian territorial dispute.
The year of 2009 has somewhat revived the issue and might well see a new twist in the islands’ fate. In late April a high-ranking Japanese official suggested Russia and Japan divide up the Kurils, infuriating his country’s authorities.
During his visit to Tokyo in May, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed to have the Kuril issue discussed at the upcoming G8 summit in Italy on July 8-10, where Russia will be represented by President Dmitry Medvedev.
Evidently not everyone in Japan was content to wait till July. Speaking at the parliament Japan’s Prime Minister on May 21, Taro Aso referred to the Southern Kurils as “illegally occupied territories”.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry has already reacted to Aso’s statement and now President Medvedev said he hopes Japan will carefully consider its actions.
“We can't leave unnoticed some recent attempts by our Japanese partners questioning the sovereignty of the Russian Federation over the Kuril Islands. Using unilateral means that fall beyond the scope of the legal framework is unacceptable. Of course, such actions don't contribute to holding further negotiations. That's something that needs to be taken into consideration. I hope that Tokyo will adequately evaluate the current situation and draw the correct conclusions from it,” Medvedev said.
29.05.2009, 16:31
Central Asian nations prepare for “big war”Russia and its allies in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) are to merge their joint troops in Central Asia into one huge military force capable of waging a large-scale war. |
30.05.2009, 03:37
4 comments
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Kuriles are the territory or Russian Federation and that is a fact. Japan is just losing it's time or it is trying to provocate Russia. What is international law now? Kosovo is independent, Abhazia, S. Osetia... Kosovo was never in his history an independent state. Serbs capital city was Prizren in Kosovo, center of Serbians Ortodox church was city Pec (also in Kosovo), in 1389. there was the most famous battle in serbian history. Over hundred of monasteries are destroyed in the past years and the world don't care... Some of the churches were for 13th century or even older. Was USA existing then? What do they know about serbian history? It is easy to give what isn't yours isn't it? This is a holy land of one European nation, the nation who won a firs victory over german army in the I World War, but seems that now nobody cares... Maby it's because we don't have money to pay the justice...
First of all, 1956 Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration signed by Russia states that not everything is "hunky-dory" about the issue, admitting there is a place for dispute in the matter. There hasn't been much progress in the case, true, but Russians are not that evil nor stupid to deny the problem itself, no need to make villains out of them in yet another story. And solving the dispute requires equal effort from both sides, too. Let's put this "legal or illegal" problem aside for a second. I believe if you go to your local book-or-whatever store and buy a world map or an atlas or school textbook on geography you would find out that Kuriles are considered Russian territory, or at least disputed territory under Russians jurisdiction. Except if you live in Japan. Several years ago maps were same in the Land of the Rising Sun, but now Japanese (not Russian!) government is trying to make it look as there is no dispute. Even if the evil Russian Empire is illegally occupying the Kuriles, is printing new maps or making "we are right discussion over" statements really going to solve the problem? Now back to the legal problem - let's take for example 1905 Portsmouth treaty - Japan received the southern half of the Island of Sakhalin from Russia. It is now legally considered a Russian territory. There is no dispute. At all. Japan didn't even mention Sakhalin for over 50 years. Why? I mean except for that territory was annexed as a result of a long-passed war and no sane person would root for Japan in the issue? I mean what Japan and the whole world consider to be the legal basis of Russian sovereignty over Sakhalin? It's San Francisco treaty. So my point #1 - San Fracisco treaty valid, even its part conserning disputed territory. If some issues it SF treaty contradict with 1875 treaty, my vote is to use the document from 1951. Point #2 is about Yalta paper. Well truth is it's a paper signed by leader of the evil empire, leader of the most democratic country ever who didn't really care about territorial integrity of some other states, and one more guy who we don't really care about here. Stalin may have had his evil plans but he was a current leader of USSR. Other sides made some promises they may regret about when Cold War is on. But... the paper is legal. Why are you so fast to discard it as some "theoretical Ameriacan promises"? Because USSR is evil? Because Roosevelt didn't mean it when he signed the paper, or didn't express the will of his electors? Or because Japanese representatives weren't invited to sign it? Well at least you could consider this - Russia made a claim on a territory, so, if it is't claimed by some other state it becomes: (pick one) *territory without an owner *Russian territory so here is the history i believe in: 1875 - some of Kuriles are Japanese 1945 - Russia claims Kuriles: "The leaders of the three great powers – the Soviet Union, the United States of America and Great Britain – have agreed that in two or three months after Germany has surrendered and the war in Europe is terminated, the Soviet Union shall enter into war against Japan on the side of the Allies on condition that: blah blah blah The Kurile Islands shall be handed over to the Soviet Union." 1951 - Japan: "Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, and to that portion of Sakhalin blah blah blah ". This is the moment the territory logically should be considered Russian, Japan didn't renounce it's rights just for fun of it. The strange thing is, Japan considers only a part of aforementioned Kuriles to be Russian from now on despite the document. 2008 - Japan is tired of Russian supposedly hunky-dory attitude so it desides to play dumb too and pretend the islands are already theirs with their brand new maps. 2009 - 58 years later dispute continues ... what's next? Maxwell of course is exaggerating but who knows? 20?? - Russia returns "Northen Territories" to Japan. 2??? - Italia paints the entire Europe in its color on its maps. And waits.
Russia entered the war at the last minutes of WW2 and stole those islands from Japan. Russisans are robbers. Do you think Japanese people love and trust Russians? Do you think Japanese people want to conclude peace treaty with Russians?