Russia Developing Kuril Islands in Face of Japanese Claim

[TaiShang]

Russia Developing Kuril Islands in Face of Japanese Claim – US Magazine

In a show of demonstrating that the Kuril Islands are an essential part of Russia, the country's government has reportedly reaffirmed plans to implement a large-scale program on restoring these islands which are also claimed by Japan.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev has confirmed his country's plans to increase the number of civilians and boost the military on the Kuril Islands, in the face of the ongoing claims on these islands by Japan, the US magazine National Interest reported.

At a cabinet meeting earlier this week, Medvedev said that the project, which initiated a few years ago, has now entered an active phase.

According to him, the project is being implemented as part of a targeted federal program, aimed at restoring "both the civilian and defense infrastructure of the Kurils."

Russia to Expedite Military Construction on Kuril Islands

Japan and Russia never signed a permanent peace treaty following the end of hostilities in World War II, because of a disagreement over four islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan the Northern Territories. The islands, located in the Sea of Okhotsk — Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai — were given to Soviet forces at the end of World War II and are still claimed by Japan.

Russia has repeatedly offered to return Tokyo two minor islands, but Japan has claimed the entire territory. Currently, the dispute between the countries remains unresolved.


Read more: Russia Developing Kuril Islands in Face of Japanese Claim – US Magazine / Sputnik International

 

[cirr]

The Russians should develop the Kuril Islands into a chain of resorts for holiday goers。

I am sure Chinese and Korean companies are very much interested in setting up shops， for example owning a few hotels ，on the islands，espeically the ones closest to Japan。

Once developed, the Russians can expect as a surety masses of Chinese and Korean tourists。

Hey, we might even see hordes of Japanese tourists。

For old times sake。

 

[Aepsilons]

Let them. There's no resources in around the Kurils, lol.

The riches lay deep in the Pacific Ocean....

 

[TaiShang]

Let them. There's no resources in around the Kurils, lol.

The riches lay deep in the Pacific Ocean....

Very nice.

Japan should really forget about Kurils because they are not worth the effort. Besides, Russia is not to be messed with without consequences.

 

[Aepsilons]

Very nice.

Japan should really forget about Kurils because they are not worth the effort. Besides, Russia is not to be messed with without consequences.

I actually , personally, believe that the current Government is merely pressing on the Kuril Island issue for political economic purposes, to rally forth the right wing voter base. Practically, what needs to be done is to forge an 'official' peace treaty with Russia , and just simply let go of the southern Kurils. They are barren and have no resources in them. Any case, there should be consolidation of Russo-Japanese relations and realize the planned Sakhalin-Hokkaido Pipeline, which has been on the works for a while now.

The resources , rich and vast, lies in Japanese Pacific Ocean Territory. I predict , eventually, Japan normalize relations with Russia officially. I personally believe that Abe will be glad to entreat with Putin in these various processes.



Regards,

 

[sweetgrape]

Very nice.

Japan should really forget about Kurils because they are not worth the effort. Besides, Russia is not to be messed with without consequences.

His excuse make me laugh, no resource?!

Japanese thinking mode is very very special, hehe!

 

[TaiShang]

I actually , personally, believe that the current Government is merely pressing on the Kuril Island issue for political economic purposes, to rally forth the right wing voter base. Practically, what needs to be done is to forge an 'official' peace treaty with Russia , and just simply let go of the southern Kurils. They are barren and have no resources in them. Any case, there should be consolidation of Russo-Japanese relations and realize the planned Sakhalin-Hokkaido Pipeline, which has been on the works for a while now.

The resources , rich and vast, lies in Japanese Pacific Ocean Territory. I predict , eventually, Japan normalize relations with Russia officially. I personally believe that Abe will be glad to entreat with Putin in these various processes.



Regards,

Any Japanese reservation as to the development of the Kurils into a military outpost?

Considering that China and Russia holds regular drills for two years now in East China Sea, greater Russian presence in the Pacific is a positive contribution to the regional peace.

 

[Aepsilons]

Any Japanese reservation as to the development of the Kurils into a military outpost?

Considering that China and Russia holds regular drills for two years now in East China Sea, greater Russian presence in the Pacific is a positive contribution to the regional peace.

Why should it matter? Russia is not a threat to us.

As for Russian presence in the Pacific Ocean, they've regularly made that a policy for quite some time now. We do not protest to that at all, in fact Japan and Russia regularly holds naval exercises together as well as formed an understanding and cooperative agreement between Japanese-Russian Coast Guards.


Japan, Russia conduct maritime police drill - News - NHK WORLD - English


Japan, Russia to run naval rescue exercises as planned- Nikkei Asian Review

Russia to Conduct Joint Naval Exercises With Japan, India


TIMES

 

[sicsheep]

China should invest heavily on Russian Kuril islands.

 

[sweetgrape]

China should invest heavily on Russian Kuril islands.

If no economic benefit, or low, don't do that, In front of sea bear, Japan dare not fart,

 

[sicsheep]

If no economic benefit, or low, don't do that, In front of sea bear, Japan dare not fart,

We have to make those islands more significant, and hard to give up for the Russians.

 

[sweetgrape]

We have to make those islands more significant, and hard to give up for the Russians.

No need, all these depend on Russia, why should we spend huge money for Russia, let them earn money, and make the Island more significant? Not good business.

If Russia don't want give up, they will not, if want, no one can stop them, I don't think they will.

 

[Keel]

Why Japanese protest against Russia which is sooooo friendly towards Japan's useless claim

Moscow: Tokyo’s reaction to Russian leaders’ plans to visit Kuril Islands incites tensions
Russia
July 24, 16:21 UTC+3

Russian Foreign Ministry says the Russian leadership pays increased attention to social and economic development of this Russian region, and Russian officials will continue trips to these islands

Iturup, Kuril Islands
© ITAR-TASS/Vladimir Sergeev



© Ekaterina Shtukina/Russian government press service/TASS
Russian PM who plans to visit Kuril Islands needs no advice from outside — press secretary



MOSCOW, July 24 /TASS/. Moscow will not take account of Tokyo’s stance in connection with Russian leaders’ plans to visit Kuril Islands, a diplomatic source told TASS commenting on Japan’s protest to the Russian Foreign Ministry over the Russian prime minister’s plans to pay a visit to Russia’s Kuril Islands.

"First of all, I would like to note that we have not received any ‘note of protest’. There was just an oral demarche by an employee of the Japanese embassy in Moscow who made a phone call to the third Asia department of the Russian Foreign Ministry," the diplomat explained.

He said the Japanese side had "expressed concern over the intention of Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to visit Kuril Islands." The Russian Foreign Ministry replied that "the Russian leadership pays increased attention to the task of social and economic development of this Russian region, and Russian officials will continue trips to these (Kuril) Islands."




© ITAR-TASS/ Dmitry Astakhov
Japan FM asks Russia’s Medvedev to cancel visit to Kuril Islands — Kyodo



"We take no account of Tokyo’s stance and have no intention to do that in future. We also advised the Japanese side not to express such ‘concerns, which incite unnecessary tensions in bilateral relations, to us in future," the source stressed.

As it became known early on Friday, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida had asked Medvedev to cancel his trip to Kuril Islands and expressed concern with the Russian prime minister’s remarks that he was planning to visit the Kuril Islands again. "Those who have not been there should visit them. Anyway, I am planning to go there to see how things are. I am inviting others to follow me," Medvedev told a government meeting last Thursday.




© ITAR-TASS/Mikhail Klimentyev
Russia restoring defense infrastructure on Kuril Islands — PM



Medvedev was the first Russian senior official to visit the Kuril Islands in November 2010 when he was the president of Russia. During that trip Medvedev visited a geothermal station and saw facilities under construction. He also talked to the local people. Medvedev’s next visit to Kunashir, the biggest island in the Southern Kuril ridge, was in July 2012 in his capacity as Russian prime minister.

Japan reacted negatively to all Medvedev’s trips. Russia’s Southern Kuril Islands have been a source of territorial dispute between Russia and Japan over the entire post-war period.


And previous Japanese jitteries to no avail



Japan Protests After Kremlin Chief of Staff Visits Disputed Kuril Islands

• Reuters
• Sep. 24 2014 11:44
• Last edited 11:44

Yuya Shino / ReutersJapan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga smiles during a news conference at Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's official residence in Tokyo, Japan.
Japan will lodge a protest with Russia after President Vladimir Putin's chief of staff visited a contested island chain, but there will be no change to Tokyo's policy to maintain dialogue with Moscow, Japan's top government spokesman said Wednesday.

Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga made the comment after Sergei Ivanov visited one of the contested islands, called the Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kurils in Russia, earlier Wednesday.

"A visit like this by a high-ranking person within the Russian government goes against Japan's stance regarding the Northern Territories," Suga told a news conference. "It hurts Japanese people's feelings and is extremely regrettable."

Soldiers from the former Soviet Union seized the islands at the end of World War II. The territorial row has weighed on diplomatic relations ever since, precluding a formal peace treaty between the two countries.

However, Suga said the visit would not affect an agreement, reached in phone talks between Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Sunday, to maintain bilateral dialogue.

During that conversation, Abe proposed that Japan and Russia hold talks at international conferences such as the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing in November, Suga said.

Ties have also been strained in recent months by sanctions imposed by Japan on Russia, such as visa restrictions and the freezing of assets, over the crisis in Ukraine, and Russian counter-measures.

Japan, which wants the eventual return of the disputed islands, needs to tread a fine line by trying to avoid hurting bilateral relations while also not wanting to appear more lenient towards Moscow than other G7 countries.


You have a boss to ask for permissions


Japan's Abe Postpones Russia Meeting Under U.S. Pressure

• The Moscow Times
• Sep. 23 2014 13:01
• Last edited 15:55

Lucas Jackson / ReutersJapan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walks past the flags of the United States and Japan after speaking to an audience at Columbia University while in New York for the United Nations General Assembly September 22, 2014.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has postponed a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin scheduled for next spring under pressure from the U.S, a news report said Tuesday.

Abe was due to meet Putin in Tokyo this autumn but was asked to reschedule the meeting by the U.S., which has led the chorus of Western condemnation against Russia over its involvement in Ukraine, Japan's Kyodo News reported, citing government sources.

A councillor at the Japanese Embassy, Kotaro Otsuki, later told radio station Echo Moskvy that the invitation had not been formally withdrawn and that a decision on Putin's visit to Tokyo had yet to be taken.

Relations between Japan and Russia have soured in recent months following the imposition of Japanese sanctions against Russia over Ukraine and an ongoing dispute over a chain of islands in the Pacific.

Earlier this month, Moscow's acting ambassador to Japan had hinted that the bilateral meeting in Tokyo could be delayed from the Russian side given the disruptions caused by the Japanese sanctions.

"We had built a very clear timetable to prepare for the visit of Vladimir Putin to Japan. Unfortunately that schedule has been moved," Ambassador Yevgeny Afansiyev was quoted as saying by Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

If the Tokyo meeting is indeed rescheduled, the two leaders could still meet on the sidelines of an APEC summit in November, Kyodo News reported.

 

[xunzi]

Russia should do what in their best interest to preserve sovereignty and economy,

 

[sweetgrape]