Japan yesterday described four disputed islands as “illegally occupied” by Russia for the first time in nearly two decades as ties sour between the countries over the war in Ukraine.
The two nations have long been engaged in attempts to agree on a post-World War II treaty, but the islands held by Moscow and claimed by Tokyo remain a key sticking point.
The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs last used the expression to describe the islands, which Moscow calls the Kurils and Tokyo the Northern Territories, in its annual policy report in 2003.
Photo: AP
This year’s Diplomatic Bluebook report comes at a time when tough sanctions are being imposed on Russia by Japan and its G7 partners, and ahead of a key revision to Japan’s national security strategy later this year.
“The greatest concern between Japan and Russia is the Northern Territories,” it said, calling them “Japanese territories over which Japan holds sovereign rights, but are currently illegally occupied by Russia.”
The ministry also said the Ukraine crisis would stall its treaty talks with Russia.
Moscow last month said it would drop the talks, citing the “impossibility” of continuing discussions, as Tokyo was “striving to cause harm to the interest of our country.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov yesterday said the islands are “inalienable territory of the Russian Federation.”
“At a time when Japan has become an unfriendly country and has joined in a whole series of hostile actions towards our country, it is really very difficult to talk about the continuation of the negotiation process,” he said.
The report took a cautious tone on China, although Japan has previously voiced concern over Beijing’s increasing maritime activities in the region.
“It is important to build a constructive and stable Japan-China relationship,” it said, while reiterating concern over Beijing’s “attempts to change the status quo by force in the East and South China Seas.”
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