Christof Lehmann (nsnbc) : Russian President Vladimir Putin said during his annual public Q&A session that he expects a Japanese – Russian compromise about the “South Kuril Islands” and that he is looking forward to the upcoming visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Moscow. Russia occupied Japan’s northern territories after World War II and is in the process of a de facto annexation of the disputed islands. The statement follows a recent “take it or leave it” suggestion styled to Japan. that was widely perceived as an attempt to blackmail Tokyo.
Putin answered questions about the disputed northern Japanese territories, designated as South Kuril Islands by Russia, saying that he “expects” that a compromise will be found “some day”. Putin added that he welcomes the upcoming visit if Japanese PM Shinzo Abe and the they “of course, will be discussing all problems. Putin noted:
“But at the same time we are also seeing other things: despite pressure from their partners, in particular from the United States, our Japanese friends still seek to maintain these relations”.
Ironically, both Moscow and Washington contribute to the stalemate and Moscow’s creeping de facto annexation of the disputed territories. A small feat for the two most powerful members of the UN Security Council.
Moscow’s unwillingness to sign a peace agreement with Japan, to return the occupied northern Japanese territories, that is the islands of Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan as well as the Habomai archipelago is forcing Tokyo’s hands with regard to its relations with the United States. Neither the permanent UN Security Council member USA nor Russia have yet taken steps to implement the UN General Assembly resolution that calls for removing so-called “enemy state clause” that designates Japan, Germany and Italy as enemy states to the UN from the UN Charter. “Legally speaking” this empowers any full UN member to launch “preemptive military actions” against Japan and the other two “enemy states” without a declaration of war.
Some Time? Blackmail and the De Facto Annexation By Russia.
In January 2016 Moscow politely blackmailed Tokyo by signaling that Moscow is looking for “foreign partners” to develop Russian-occupied Japanese Islands by pressuring Tokyo to better make a quick decision if it wants a cut of the deal, including fishing rights in the waters around the disputed “South Kuril Islands” . Speaking at the sidelines of the 2016 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev pressured Tokyo further by telling the press:
“Russia wants to develop the Kuriles at a brisk pace. … The conditions are ideal there for fishing and fish farming. So we are inviting Japanese companies, and are ready to give them priority in joint ventures. … But if they turn it down – we will find others who are willing to work with us. And I know that it can be of great interest to other foreign investors.”
Japan has previously rejected such offers as it considers Iturup, Kunashir, Shitokan and the Habomai Archipelago, in accordance with international law, as Japanese, Russian occupied and disputed territory. Tokyo stresses that the current Russian “projects” are one further step toward an illegal, de facto annexation, and that Russia’s most recent “offer” about partnerships and fishing rights amounts to blackmail and the abuse of Russia’s status as a permanent member of the UN Security Council. Russia’s unilateral “development project” also prompts grave concerns t what arguably amounts to human rights violations and ethnic cleansing.
Some 17,000 Japanese citizens were forcefully deported from the disputed territories after the USSR / Russia occupied the northern Japanese territories. The unilateral “development” of the region further exacerbates the violation of the rights of the displaced Japanese communities and lays the foundation for the further “Russofication” of the ethnically, culturally and geologically Japanese territories.
Russia and Japan have, at several occasions discussed different possible “compromises”, including the division of the territories along a north – south axis or the return of some of the islands. None of these “compromises”, however, can be valid according to fundamental legal principles as long as the negotiating parties are playing on an uneven playing field.
CH/L – nsnbc 15.04.2016
Source Article from http://nsnbc.me/2016/04/15/putin-expects-japanese-russian-compromize-about-the-south-kuril-islands-some-day/
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