Russia-Japan gap remains on peace deal

Long-standing territorial dispute continues to be a sticking point on World War II treaty

Tokyo and Moscow remain divided on a territorial dispute and negotiations on a peace deal, according to Japanese and Russian media.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Russia's Far Eastern city of Vladivostok last week to deliver a speech at the fifth Eastern Economic Forum and for a one-on-one meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Each time the two have met - Thursday was their 27th sit-down - Abe has called on Putin to conclude a World War II peace treaty at an early date.

But a dispute over four islands, which Russia calls the Southern Kurils and Japan calls the Northern Territories, has prevented the two countries from signing the peace treaty.

Russia took control of the four islets off Japan's northernmost island of Hokkaido at the end of the war, and by 1949 it had deported all residents to Japan.

Last year, Abe and Putin agreed to accelerate peace treaty talks based on a 1956 joint declaration that mentioned Moscow handing over the two smaller islands - Shikotan and Habomai - to Tokyo once a peace treaty is signed.

But the ministerial and working-level negotiations have failed to bridge the gap between the countries regarding the dispute.

Japanese news agency Kyodo News said Abe and Putin remained at odds over territorial talks.

Russian news agency Interfax also reported that Putin's national security adviser, Yuri Ushakov, said there was a gap in the two leaders' positions on negotiations for a peace treaty.

On Thursday, Abe told Putin that he wants to discuss a peace treaty and bilateral and international issues in a forward-looking manner.

Speaking at a regional economic forum after talks with Abe, Putin said he sees many challenges before signing a peace treaty, including Japan's security alliance with the United States.

"There are issues of a military and defense nature, the issues of security, and here we should take into account the position of third countries and Japan's commitment to third countries, including the US," Putin was quoted by Tass news agency as telling the EEF's plenary session.

Putin also said that if the United States deploys missiles to Japan and South Korea, they will cover a considerable part of Russia.

Following the nullification of the US-Russia treaty to ban intermediate-range nuclear forces, Washington disclosed a plan to deploy missiles in the Asia-Pacific region. Russia said it is poised to counter such a move.

In an editorial, Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun said, "It can be said that the environment has not been ready for Russia to make concessions to Japan on the territorial issue."

The two leaders' most recent meeting seems to have produced no decisive movement, resulting only in a commitment to "working with a forward-facing attitude," Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun said.

Russia has insisted that Japan recognize the islands' seizure as a legal consequence of WWII's outcome, while Japan considers Russia's move to have been illegal.

Last month, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev visited a disputed island known as Iturup in Russian and Etorofu in Japanese. "This is our land," Medvedev declared.

Japan filed a formal protest against Medvedev's visit to the island.

In 2016, Russia deployed missile systems on Kunashir (known in Japanese as Kunashiri) and Iturup (Etorofu), two of the four disputed islands.

A Russian government document obtained by Kyodo News said a new land-to-ship missile system with a range of more than 300 kilometers would be deployed on Paramushir and Matua in the Kuril Islands chain, which also includes four islands claimed by Japan.

The plan indicates that Russia places strategic importance on the Kuril Islands in defending the Sea of Okhotsk and its nuclear forces against the United States, Kyodo News said.

While the negotiations over the peace treaty are stalled, Japan has been using economic cooperation as an overture to Russia. Russia's economic growth remains sluggish due to prolonged Western sanctions and low crude oil prices.

When the two leaders met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Osaka in June, Abe and Putin agreed on plans to conduct joint economic activities on the islands, with a pilot program for tourism to start in October.

caihong@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily Global 09/09/2019 page1)