Russia warns Japan against 'inflated hopes' in islands dispute

**vector7** · May 8th, 2009, 17:21

Russia warns Japan against 'inflated hopes' in islands dispute

Friday 08th May, 05:13 AM JST

MOSCOW —
Russia on Thursday warned Japan not to expect a decades-old territorial row to be resolved ahead of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit to Tokyo early next week.

“I would like to stress our readiness for a calm, constructive conversation on this topic and what’s more important, without some sort of inflated expectations and therefore without disappointment,” Yury Ushakov, a veteran diplomat and deputy head of Putin’s staff, told reporters.

“Expectations then cause major disappointments.”

Putin is expected in Tokyo for a day of talks Tuesday with a high-powered delegation of top businessmen and officials.

He is scheduled to meet his Japanese counterpart Taro Aso as well as former premiers Junichiro Koizumi and Yoshiro Mori.

Japanese officials planned to raise their “favorite territorial problem,” said Ushakov, and while Russia was ready to discuss any hypothetical scenarios it was important to avoid “extreme positions.”

A decades-old territorial row over four Russian islands off Japan’s northern Hokkaido island, known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kuriles, has long cast a shadow over the bilateral ties.

The two countries have never signed a peace treaty because of the dispute over the islands, which were seized by Soviet troops in 1945.

Ahead of Putin’s visit, Japan said it expected Russia to answer to Tokyo’s call to move towards a solution.

But Ushakov said it was important not to let bilateral issues hamper economic cooperation.

The two government will sign 10 government and commercial agreements during the visit, including on peaceful uses of nuclear energy and an agreement to build a wind power plant on the Russky island off Vladivostok on the Russian Pacific, the scene of an APEC summit in 2014.

Some of the country’s top businessmen, including Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller, Rosneft president Sergei Bogdanchikov and UC Rusal co-owner and CEO Oleg Deripaska, will accompany the premier to Japan.

A judo black belt, Putin would also unveil a Japanese language version of his book on the sport, Ushakov said.

Wire reports

**Ryan Ruck** · July 2nd, 2011, 20:30

Russia To Deploy Cruise Missiles On Isles

March 3, 2011

Japan is closely watching Russian military developments in the Far East, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said Wednesday, a day after it was reported that Moscow plans to deploy antiship cruise missiles near Hokkaido.

Edano said at a news conference the government believes it is important for the two countries to foster communications and avoid an unnecessary arms race in the Asia-Pacific region.

"Our country is keeping a close watch on Russia's military trends in the Far East," he said.

Edano's remarks came after the Interfax news agency reported Tuesday that Russia will deploy antiship cruise missiles and an advanced air defense system in its Far East region, including the four islands off Hokkaido that Japan wants returned.

The official of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces said Russia will set up Yakhont antiship missiles and the Tor-M2 missile shield, according to the news agency.

The cruise missiles could be deployed on Etorofu and Kunashiri, two of the four disputed islands.

Such a move would doubtlessly provoke a backlash from Japan.

The Yakhont missile has a range of 200 km to 300 km and can travel at better than the speed of sound. If installed on Etorofu and Kunashiri, they could reach parts of Hokkaido.

The Tor-M2 system can launch four missiles at four targets at once and would dramatically improve defense capabilities near the four islands.

Russia also plans to deploy to Etorofu Island some Mi28 helicopters, which carry antitank missiles, Interfax quoted the official as saying.

The official was quoted as saying a buildup plan for the Kuril Islands area has already been submitted to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov.

The plan presumably includes the deployments of the Yakhont missiles and the Tor-M2 system.

The moves came after President Dmitry Medvedev said in early February that Russia will consolidate its presence in the Kuril Islands, seeing them as a strategic region. First Deputy Defense Minister Vladimir Popovkin has said state-of-the-art equipment will be installed in the region.

Tokyo and Moscow have been at odds over the sovereignty of the islands of Etorofu, Kunashiri and Shikotan and the Habomai islet group, which were seized by the Soviet Union following Japan's World War II surrender. The dispute has prevented the two countries from signing a postwar peace treaty.

Territorial row talks

Japan and Russia discussed their bilateral territorial row Wednesday over four Russian-held islands off Hokkaido at a strategic dialogue involving vice ministers in Tokyo, following up on a meeting between the two countries' foreign ministers last month in Moscow.

Vice Foreign Minister Kenichiro Sasae and Andrei Denisov, Russian first deputy foreign minister, also covered bilateral economic exchanges and cooperation in seeking the denuclearization of North Korea, Japanese officials said.

The strategic dialogue, launched in 2007 and last held in January 2010, comes at a time when bilateral ties have reached the lowest point in years over a rekindled dispute over the Russian-held islands.

Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, were unable to reach agreement in their February meeting over the decades-old territorial spat, which was reignited after President Dmitry Medvedev became the first Kremlin leader to visit one of the four isles last November.

Sasae and Denisov agreed that the next round of strategic talks will be held in Moscow and that the schedule will be arranged through diplomatic channels.

**vector7** · December 21st, 2011, 21:10

Russia to build two military posts in disputed Kuril Islands

Kuril Islands
© RIA Novosti. Sergey Krivosheev

16:49 16/12/2011
MOSCOW, December 16 (RIA Novosti)

Related News

The Russian Federal Agency for Special Construction will build two military posts in the disputed Kuril Islands, the agency's chief said on Friday.

"We are currently designing two military posts in the islands of Iturup and Kunashir, our task is to complete the project's design in 2012 and begin construction in 2013," Grigory Naginsky said.

Construction costs are estimated at 12 million rubles (about $377 million).

Naginsky also said an airfield for civilian and military aircraft in the disputed islands is currently being refurbished.

The row over the Kuril Islands, which are known as the Northern Territories in Japan, has prevented the two countries from signing a formal peace treaty following the end of World War II.

**vector7** · February 7th, 2013, 18:13

Jets Roar as US, Japan, Australia Drill in Pacific

By ERIC TALMADGE Associated Press
ANDERSEN AIR FORCE BASE, Guam February 7, 2013 (AP)

Fighter jets from the U.S. and two key allies roared into western Pacific skies Thursday in the combat phase of annual exercises that have gained importance as the region responds to the rise of China and other potential threats.

The Cope North drills which could soon swell in participants are aimed at preparing air forces of the U.S., Japan and Australia to fight together if a military crisis erupts. They also send a vivid reminder to Beijing that America's regional alliances are strong, though officers leading the maneuvers say they are not looking to bait the Chinese military.

"The training is not against a specific country, like China," Japan Air Self-Defense Force Lt. Gen. Masayuki Hironaka said. "However, I think (the fact) that our alliance with the U.S. and Australia is healthy is a strong message."

The three allies began flying sorties together earlier in the week around the U.S. territory of Guam in a humanitarian phase of the exercises, dropping emergency assistance in packages that wafted down under parachutes to jungle airfields. On Thursday, fighter jets were joined by bombers, transport planes and tankers that refuel the fighters in midair. For the first time, Japanese tankers were joining the drills.

U.S. officials said they believe more allies, particularly New Zealand and the Philippines, will join the exercises soon.

Maneuvers like Cope North are a key element of Washington's evolving strategy in the Pacific as the U.S. shifts its emphasis away from Afghanistan and fighting ground wars. It is now placing more attention on Asia and the possibility of an air or sea confrontation with the rapidly modernizing Chinese military, which has been briskly improving its forces and using its growing muscle to back up territorial claims that have raised regional tensions.

This "Pacific rebalance" will bring newer and more advanced aircraft and ships to the Pacific theater over the next several years and spread out the tens of thousands of U.S. troops now primarily based in Japan and South Korea. U.S. Marines have already begun rotational deployments to Darwin, in northern Australia, and about 9,000 Marines stationed on the southern Japan island of Okinawa are to be moved to this tiny island, Hawaii and other locations.

The changes reflect a deepening strategic concern over the rise of China as a regional military power with the potential to challenge Washington's ability to intervene in a crisis, particularly around Taiwan or islands in the south and east China seas that are contested by China and U.S. allies such as the Philippines and Japan.

But the emphasis on alliance-building through exercises like Cope North also underscores fears in the Pentagon that major budget cuts looming in Congress could make it difficult for Washington to shoulder the whole burden of keeping China in check.

Pacific Air Forces commander Gen. Herbert Carlisle said he believes the budget cuts now being considered could threaten America's role as a superpower. He noted that China's military, and especially its navy, have been undergoing a "massive buildup" and are becoming a more credible challenge to their U.S. counterparts.

So, strategic alliances are now more important than ever.

"The United States and our partners are taking 'joint' to the next level," he said. "The amount of commerce that goes through here, the amount of the world GDP that goes through here, if you look at the world's population that is in this part of the world, the importance of the Pacific can't be overstated."

Washington's renewed focus on Asia has generally been welcomed by its more-established and prosperous allies like Japan and Australia because they share the U.S. concerns that changes in the balance of power could hurt economic growth throughout the region.

"I think nations throughout the region are looking for that increased support that working with the U.S. is likely to bring," said Royal Australian Air Force Air Commodore Anthony Grady. "Australia welcomes the refocus."

Japan also has a more urgent need to tout its U.S. alliance.

Its coast guard ships and fighter aircraft have been deployed frequently over the past several months to drive their Chinese counterparts away from a group of small uninhabited islands that both nations claim as their own. The dispute has soured diplomatic and trade relations and shows no sign of abating.

Under a treaty, the U.S. is obliged to come to Japan's assistance if the islands are attacked or occupied. Hironaka noted that during Cope North, which involves about 1,700 troops, Japanese fighter jets will conduct needed bombing training that they cannot do in their own country because of crowding and safety restrictions.

"Training with the U.S. is very important to us," he said. "The U.S.-Japan alliance is key to security in the region."

Not all Asian nations have been so receptive to the U.S. Pacific policy.

Some countries have expressed doubts about how far the United States would be willing to go to support them in a crisis, especially since China is one of Washington's most important trading partners. Others have voiced concerns that exercises like Cope North send a confrontational message that might lead to higher tensions.

Carlisle acknowledged that is a possibility.

"I think the PRC has a tendency to look at things in a different light," he said. "I think they may take this as something different than it is intended."

Japan says 2 Russian fighter jets entered its airspace

Published February 07, 2013
Associated Press

Feb. 7, 2013: In this photo taken by Japan Air Self-Defense Force and released by the Joint Staff Office of the Defense Ministry of Japan, a Russian fighter jet SU-27 flies over the sea off the Japanese island of Hokkaido Thursday afternoon. The Defense Ministry said two SU-27 jets, including the one shown in this photo, briefly intruded into Japanese airspace in the afternoon off the coast of Rishiri island on Hokkaido's west coast, prompting Japans air force to scramble jets. (AP/Joint Staff Office of Defense Ministry of Japan)

TOKYO – Japan's Defense Ministry said two Russian fighter jets briefly intruded into Japanese airspace Thursday off the northwestern tip of the island of Hokkaido, prompting Tokyo to lodge a protest.

Japanese air force jets scrambled after the intrusion by the two SU-27 jets off the coast of Rishiri island, which lasted just over a minute, ministry official Yoshihide Yoshida said.

Yoshida said it was not immediately known whether the airspace violation was intentional or accidental, but that it was "extremely problematic." The last intrusion by Russian jets in Japanese airspace was on Feb. 9, 2008, he said.

Japan's Foreign Ministry lodged a protest with the Russian Embassy in Tokyo.

Another ministry official who spoke on condition of anonymity said it was not immediately clear whether it was related to a government-sponsored rally held Thursday demanding that Moscow return a group of disputed islands off Hokkaido's eastern coast captured by the Russians in 1945.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the rally that he will do his utmost to resolve the territorial dispute with Russia, which has kept the two nations from signing a peace treaty officially ending their hostilities in World War II.

In Moscow, the Russian Defense Ministry issued a statement denying any intrusion. It said Russian military aircraft taking part in Thursday's military exercise in the area flew in "strict conformity with international rules without any border violations."

Soviet troops captured the islands in the waning days of the war, forcing about 17,000 Japanese residents to be deported over the next few years. About 17,000 people, mostly Russians, live there now.

Japan has designated Feb. 7 as "Northern Territories Day," saying that a treaty dating back to that day in 1855 supports its claim to the islands, which are known in Russia as the Southern Kurils.

They lie as close as six miles to Japan's Hokkaido island and are also near undisputed Russian territory. The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are believed to have offshore oil and natural gas reserves, plus gold and silver deposits.

Addressing former Japanese residents of the islands and others gathered in a large Tokyo concert hall, Abe said he told Russian President Vladimir Putin in December that he wants to settle the dispute. Abe plans to send former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori as a special envoy to Russia this month, but prospects for progress on the issue are uncertain.

"We aim to finally resolve the problem with Russia on the disputed islands and realize the signing of a peace treaty," Abe said in a brief speech before being whisked back to parliamentary proceedings.

In 2010, former President Dmitry Medvedev became the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the islands, triggering sharp rebukes from Tokyo. He visited a second time last July.

More than half of the former Japanese residents of the islands have died in the 68 years since the Russians took control.

"My birthplace is right in front of me, but I can't return" to live there, said Choriki Sugawara, a 79-year-old man who recalled happy memories growing up on the island of Kunashir — called Kunashiri in Japan — in a fishing family of eight.