Putin talks about territorial disputes and calls Japan ＂naive＂. Psychological warfare between Japan and Russia continues.
BEIJING, Dec. 17 (Janice)-Russian President Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit to Japan ended on the 16th of this month. Within two days, Putin made a "calm" appearance in a belated manner. After the summit meeting between the two countries, Putin even responded with "naivety" to the "earnest hope" of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on the territorial issue at the kind invitation, and finally failed to make substantial progress expected by Japan. The psychological war between Japan and Russia will continue.
On December 13, 2016, in Moscow, Russia, Russian President Vladimir Putin was interviewed by Nippon TV, during which he played with Akita dog "Yume" given by Japan.
Financial aid paves the way: Japan spends money to make a breakthrough
On the 16th, Putin ended his first day visit in Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. However, when he arrived in Japan two and a half hours late, Putin left Yamaguchi Prefecture and flew to Tokyo 50 minutes late. His presidential plane also broke down and could not take off, which forced Abe to hold the second round of talks with Putin at the Prime Minister’s residence that morning.
On the other hand, in order to welcome Putin at the Prime Minister’s residence, Abe left Ube Airport in Yamaguchi Prefecture early on the morning of the 15th local time and returned to Tokyo. After a long time, Abe received a belated Putin at the Prime Minister’s residence and reviewed the honor guard of the Japanese Self-Defense Force together. Later, they had lunch together and then had a brief talk. The formal talks did not officially begin until 13: 00 local time.
On 16th, Putin and Abe visited the Judo Center "Kodokan" and watched a demonstration performance. Putin also praised Abe’s hometown as "very beautiful" and thanked the residents of Yamaguchi Prefecture and Changmen for their warm hospitality.
At the symposium attended by cabinet members of the two sides and representatives of the economic and financial circles of the two countries, the two sides not only reached an agreement on the specific contents of eight economic cooperation plans with Russia in the energy field, but also attended the government document exchange ceremony for medical and other projects. Among them, the cooperation provided by Japan, including non-governmental, totaled about 300 billion yen (about 17.6 billion yuan), and more than 60 agreement documents were exchanged by non-governmental enterprises.
The heads of state of the two countries also held a joint press conference and issued a statement after the talks, saying that the two sides reached an agreement on starting consultations on the common economic activities of the two countries in the four northern islands (Russia called the South Kuril Islands). In a press release, the Japanese government said that the initiation of this consultation between Japan and Russia may become an "important step" towards the conclusion of a peace treaty, and the two sides "reached a mutual understanding".
The communique pointed out that "the heads of the two countries have demonstrated their sincere determination to solve the peace treaty issue." Regarding the grave-sweeping of the elderly former islanders in the four northern islands, the heads of the two countries issued instructions to their foreign affairs departments to simplify the research procedures. There is no statement about the ownership of the four northern islands in the communique.
In addition, the two sides also reached an agreement on relaxing visa conditions to promote personnel exchanges and expand exchanges between regions and sports fields. In addition, the two sides also confirmed the intergovernmental agreement for Japanese enterprises to participate in the development project of natural gas field in Ogda Peninsula facing the Arctic Ocean. Earlier, as a sanction against Russia, Japan froze the consultations on visa relaxation, and this sanction will actually be lifted.
On December 14, 2016, in Changmen, Japan, the police inspected the courtyard near the place where Japanese and Russian leaders are about to meet. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will hold talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 15th.
Say your own words: the territorial bottom line is difficult to give in.
In this regard, Abe said at a press conference afterwards that Japan and Russia will establish a "special negotiation system" around economic activities in the four northern islands, which means that the two countries have taken an "important step" in concluding a peace treaty. He pointed out that he hopes to "draw a pause in my generation" on the issue of the conclusion of the peace treaty between the two countries.
However, Putin responded that the idea that Russia and Japan can immediately resolve the peace treaty is "naive", but a solution should be found. Although the problem cannot be solved immediately, it is necessary to find a solution. Putin pointed out that cooperation with Japan in the four northern islands (Russia called the South Kuril Islands) will promote the atmosphere of future peace treaty negotiations, and invited Abe to visit Russia.
He also said that a consensus has been reached with Abe, and every effort will be made to realize the free visit of the original islanders to the four northern islands, including areas that are not open to the outside world. He also said that Abe has been proposed to implement a system in which residents of Sakhalin and Hokkaido can travel freely. Putin also stressed that Russia should understand what to expect in the context of the special relationship between Tokyo and the United States when discussing the peace treaty with Japan.
In response, Abe said that he would attend the Eastern Economic Forum to be held in Vladivostok in September 2017. He said that the four northern islands should become a "mixed area" for Russians and Japanese.
He also pointed out that Russia and Japan should do their utmost to prevent "losers" from appearing in the relations between the two countries, and the common economic activities of the two countries in the four northern islands should not cause damage to either side.
Data Map: Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, China News Agency reporter Alvin Wong photo
Multiple pressures: the four islands problem remains to be solved
After the end of World War II, there were differences between Russia and Japan over the disputed islands, and the two countries have so far failed to sign a peace agreement. In May this year, Abe proposed to improve Japan-Russia relations with "new ideas", that is, to abandon the principle of non-separation of politics and economy that has been adhered to for many years and replace it with the policy of parallel promotion of economic cooperation and peace treaty negotiations.
Since then, during the Eastern Economic Forum in September this year, Japan has actively increased the scale of economic cooperation with Russia. During the forum, the total amount of economic cooperation agreements signed by Russia and Japan reached more than 16.8 billion US dollars.
In the face of Japan’s tempting "new ideas", Russia’s position does not seem to have changed much. Since the second half of this year, leaders and representatives of many important departments and institutions, such as the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Presidential Information Bureau, the Federal Council (the upper house of parliament) and the State Duma (the lower house of parliament), have voiced intensively that peace treaties can be signed, but "Russia will not use territory to make transactions."
After Putin’s talks with Abe, Yuri ushakov, assistant to the Russian President, stressed that "common economic activities in the disputed four islands must be implemented based on Russian laws" and immediately restrained the Japanese side. Subsequently, Abe’s entourage in Japan emphasized that "the legal position of our country must not be damaged".
"Nihon Keizai Shimbun" pointed out that the psychological war between Japan and Russia, including the leaders, about the disputed islands seems to continue. Another analysis said that from the current point of view, there are still great differences between Russia and Japan in solving territorial disputes in the short term. Russia’s blind emphasis on its territorial position may create resistance to the implementation of Japan’s "new ideas", thus affecting the acquisition of "benefits" from Japan.
In addition to the gap between the two countries, there is also heavy pressure from the west. In response to Putin’s current visit to Japan, a the State Council spokesman said in response to a reporter’s question that he didn’t think Japan would make "a move different from the G7". In this regard, diplomats in Tokyo believe that this is a "warning" given by the White House to Abe, asking Japan not to betray the common interests of Western groups. (End)