A Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman yesterday said that Tokyo was not discussing with Moscow the joint administration of disputed islands held by Russia in the hope of unblocking an issue that has bedeviled their relations for 70 years.
The Nikkei business daily yesterday reported that Japan was considering joint administration of the islands and that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hoped to convince Russian President Vladimir Putin when they meet on Dec. 15 in Japan to begin negotiations on the proposal.
The newspaper cited unidentified Japanese and Russian government sources.
The dispute over the four islands north of Japan’s Hokkaido has prevented Tokyo and Moscow from signing a peace treaty formally ending the war they fought with each other in World War II.
“We deny the Nikkei report that Japan and Russia are discussing the joint administration of the Northern Territories,” foreign ministry spokesman Yasuhira Kawamura told reporters in an e-mail, referring to the islands off Hokkaido, which are known in Russia as the Southern Kuriles.
“There is no change in Japan’s fundamental position that Japan will conclude the peace treaty with Russia by resolving the issue of the possession of the four northern islands,” Kawamura added.
A Japanese ruling party source told reporters that a proposal such as that reported by Nikkei was not very realistic.
Japan has long demanded that the sovereignty of all the territories be resolved before a peace treaty is signed, but some politicians and experts have said Abe might alter course.
Last month, Abe told the Japanese National Diet: “I will resolve the territorial issue, end the abnormal situation in which no peace treaty has been concluded even 71 years after the war, and cultivate the major possibility of Japan-Russia cooperation in areas such as the economy and energy.”
The newspaper said Tokyo hoped to negotiate a return of the two smaller islands while adopting joint control of two larger islands.
Japan’s position has been to assert its sovereignty over all of the disputed islands, but Russia regularly cites a 1956 joint declaration, never put into effect, that stipulates the return of the two smaller isles to Japan.
Heavy rain and strong winds yesterday disrupted flights, trains and ferries, forcing the closure of roads across large parts of New Zealand’s North Island, while snapping power links to tens of thousands. Domestic media reported a few flights had resumed operating by afternoon from the airport in Wellington, the capital, although cancelations were still widespread after airport authorities said most morning flights were disrupted. Air New Zealand said it hoped to resume services when conditions ease later yesterday, after it paused operations at Wellington, Napier and Palmerston North airports. Online images showed flooded semi-rural neighborhoods, inundated homes, trees fallen on vehicles and collapsed
FRAYED: Strains between the US-European ties have ruptured allies’ trust in Washington, but with time, that could be rebuilt, the Michigan governor said China is providing crucial support for Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and could end the war with a phone call, US Ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker said. “China could call [Russian President] Vladimir Putin and end this war tomorrow and cut off his dual-purpose technologies that they’re selling,” Whitaker said during a Friday panel at the Munich Security Conference. “China could stop buying Russian oil and gas.” “You know, this war is being completely enabled by China,” the US envoy added. Beijing and Moscow have forged an even tighter partnership since the start of the war, and Russia relies on China for critical parts
In a softly lit Shanghai bar, graduate student Helen Zhao stretched out both wrists to have her pulse taken — the first step to ordering the house special, a bespoke “health” cocktail based on traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). “TCM bars” have popped up in several cities across China, epitomizing what the country’s stressed-out, time-poor youth refer to as “punk wellness,” or “wrecking yourself while saving yourself.” At Shanghai’s Niang Qing, a TCM doctor in a white coat diagnoses customers’ physical conditions based on the pulse readings, before a mixologist crafts custom drinks incorporating the herbs and roots prescribed for their ailments.
Two sitting Philippine senators have been identified as “coperpetrators” in former Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte’s crimes against humanity trial at the International Criminal Court (ICC), documents released by prosecutors showed. Philippine senators Ronald Dela Rosa and Christopher Go are among eight current and former officials named in a document dated Feb. 13 and posted to the court’s Web site. ICC prosecutors have charged Duterte with three counts of crimes against humanity, alleging his involvement in at least 76 murders as part of his “war on drugs.” “Duterte and his coperpetrators shared a common plan or agreement to ‘neutralize’ alleged criminals in the Philippines
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