ID :
159157
Mon, 02/07/2011 - 12:40
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/159157
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Japanese PM criticised Russian President Medvedev's S Kurils Trip
TOKYO (Itar-Tass) - Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan on
Monday criticised Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit last November
to one of four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan as an "unforgivable outrage" and vowed to tenaciously seek the settlement of the bilateral
territorial dispute.
However, he calls for continuing negotiations with Moscow on a peace treaty and economic cooperation. The Japanese government head made this statement in Tokyo at a "nationwide rally for the return of the Northern
Territories." By decision of the government, he it is held annually on
February 7 in memory of the first Russian-Japanese treaty of 1855, which left the Southern Kurils in Japan.
Kan told the annual rally to press for the early return of the four islands off Hokkaido that the territorial row is "a very important challenge for Japanese foreign affairs" and said that his government will work "with a strong will" to conclude a peace treaty with Russia after clarifying the claims to the isles, the Kyodo news agency reported. The Japanese premier also indicated Tokyo's intention to continue talks with Moscow on expanding economic cooperation during his remarks at the government-organised gathering in Tokyo, which was attended by about 1,500 former islanders, politicians and activists. Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who will visit Moscow from Thursday
for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on matters including the territorial dispute, also said he will stake his political life on realising the early return of the islands. "I will wholeheartedly devote myself to resolving the territorial issue," he said. The foreign minister added he will try to lay the groundwork for Kan's summit talks with Medvedev during his upcoming visit to Russia to help settle the row.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, who also serves as minister in charge of Northern Territories issues, said the government has doubled its spending for awareness-raising activities on the territorial row to 2.07 billion yen in the fiscal 2011 budget plan from the current year to make stronger calls for the return, according to Kyodo.
Nemuro Mayor Shunsuke Hasegawa lambasted Medvedev's trip to Kunashiri Island, saying the Russian president "ignored laws and international justice by justifying the illegal occupation" of the islands by Russia and "repeated the same mistake as the one made 65 years ago by infringing upon
Japan's sovereignty."
The Soviet Union seized the islands of Etorofu (Iturup), Kunashiri
(Kunashir), Shikotan and the Habomai islet group shortly after Japan's
surrender in World War II on August 15, 1945. The territorial spat has
prevented the two countries from signing a post-war peace treaty. The
islands are known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils.
Cape Nosappu on the eastern tip of Nemuro, an eastern Hokkaido city,
is about 3 kilometres from one of the Habomai islets. The rally is held every year in Japan to mark Northern Territories Day, which commemorates the conclusion of the Treaty of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation on February 7, 1855, in which Japan and Russia confirmed that the four islands are Japanese territory.
Since Medvedev's trip (Nov 1), the Japanese government has been irked by a series of visits to the disputed islands by high-ranking Russian officials including First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin and Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. However, Tokyo until now has not used such strong words as "unforgivable outrage."
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 recognise the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. Furthermore, Japan currently claims that at least some of the disputed islands are not a part of the Kuril Islands, and thus are not covered by the treaty. Russia maintains that the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands was recognised following agreements at the end of the Second World War. However, Japan has disputed this claim.
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 recognise Russia's right to the islands and then try to acquire some or all of them
through negotiations.
Monday criticised Russian President Dmitry Medvedev's visit last November
to one of four Russian-held islands claimed by Japan as an "unforgivable outrage" and vowed to tenaciously seek the settlement of the bilateral
territorial dispute.
However, he calls for continuing negotiations with Moscow on a peace treaty and economic cooperation. The Japanese government head made this statement in Tokyo at a "nationwide rally for the return of the Northern
Territories." By decision of the government, he it is held annually on
February 7 in memory of the first Russian-Japanese treaty of 1855, which left the Southern Kurils in Japan.
Kan told the annual rally to press for the early return of the four islands off Hokkaido that the territorial row is "a very important challenge for Japanese foreign affairs" and said that his government will work "with a strong will" to conclude a peace treaty with Russia after clarifying the claims to the isles, the Kyodo news agency reported. The Japanese premier also indicated Tokyo's intention to continue talks with Moscow on expanding economic cooperation during his remarks at the government-organised gathering in Tokyo, which was attended by about 1,500 former islanders, politicians and activists. Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, who will visit Moscow from Thursday
for talks with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov on matters including the territorial dispute, also said he will stake his political life on realising the early return of the islands. "I will wholeheartedly devote myself to resolving the territorial issue," he said. The foreign minister added he will try to lay the groundwork for Kan's summit talks with Medvedev during his upcoming visit to Russia to help settle the row.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano, who also serves as minister in charge of Northern Territories issues, said the government has doubled its spending for awareness-raising activities on the territorial row to 2.07 billion yen in the fiscal 2011 budget plan from the current year to make stronger calls for the return, according to Kyodo.
Nemuro Mayor Shunsuke Hasegawa lambasted Medvedev's trip to Kunashiri Island, saying the Russian president "ignored laws and international justice by justifying the illegal occupation" of the islands by Russia and "repeated the same mistake as the one made 65 years ago by infringing upon
Japan's sovereignty."
The Soviet Union seized the islands of Etorofu (Iturup), Kunashiri
(Kunashir), Shikotan and the Habomai islet group shortly after Japan's
surrender in World War II on August 15, 1945. The territorial spat has
prevented the two countries from signing a post-war peace treaty. The
islands are known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils.
Cape Nosappu on the eastern tip of Nemuro, an eastern Hokkaido city,
is about 3 kilometres from one of the Habomai islets. The rally is held every year in Japan to mark Northern Territories Day, which commemorates the conclusion of the Treaty of Commerce, Navigation and Delimitation on February 7, 1855, in which Japan and Russia confirmed that the four islands are Japanese territory.
Since Medvedev's trip (Nov 1), the Japanese government has been irked by a series of visits to the disputed islands by high-ranking Russian officials including First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov, Regional Development Minister Viktor Basargin and Defence Minister Anatoly Serdyukov. However, Tokyo until now has not used such strong words as "unforgivable outrage."
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 recognise the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the Kuril Islands. Furthermore, Japan currently claims that at least some of the disputed islands are not a part of the Kuril Islands, and thus are not covered by the treaty. Russia maintains that the Soviet Union's sovereignty over the islands was recognised following agreements at the end of the Second World War. However, Japan has disputed this claim.
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 recognise Russia's right to the islands and then try to acquire some or all of them
through negotiations.
