To Moscow for poachers

The Japanese Secretary General is bringing a territorial dispute to Russia

Today, the Secretary General of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) of Japan, Tsutomu Takebe and his family will fly to Moscow. He will stay in Russia for six days. This is an unusually long period of time for a visit, the official purpose of which is the stated intention to decide the fate of poachers detained last week by Russian border guards in the South Kuril Islands.

Takebe intends to protest that Russia continues to detain the captain of the schooner Kishin-Maru 31, 50-year-old Noboru Sakashima, and two fishermen of the crew on Kunashir Island. The Japanese will demand their immediate release and the return of the fishing vessel. The body of the fourth crew member, 35-year-old Mitsujiro Morita, who died from a stray bullet while detaining the schooner, was handed over to Japanese authorities on August 19.

Japan considers the four islands of the south of the Kuril chain - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai archipelago - "illegally occupied" by the USSR after the Second World War and makes their return a condition for concluding a peace treaty between the two countries. Considering the islands as its own territory, Tokyo does not prevent Japanese fishermen from catching seafood in the specified area. But from the point of view of the Russian side, this is a violation of the state border.

As a rule, Russians detain poaching vessels and return them to their owners after paying a fine. The schooner Kishin Maru 31 has been delayed twice already - in 1988 and 1994. Since 1994, the Russian side has detained 30 Japanese ships with 210 crew members for illegal fishing in the South Kuril Ridge area. During this time, weapons were used six times and seven people were wounded. However, the last fatal shooting occurred only in October 1956, when fire was opened on a Japanese ship from one of the islands of the Habomai archipelago.

The incident with the schooner raised the issue of the Japanese-Russian territorial dispute, the discussion of which is now untimely for Tokyo. In less than a month, elections for a new prime minister will be held, the country is agitated by the unpredictable actions of the DPRK, public organizations are increasingly protesting against the presence of American military bases near populated areas of the country. The LDP's position is beginning to weaken, and in the elections to the upper house of parliament in 2007, the opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) may gain a majority, which will lead to a change of power.

At the same time, the LDP cannot ignore the critical voices raised against it in connection with the incident in the South Kuril Islands, especially after the leadership of the DPJ demanded a parliamentary investigation into the circumstances of the death of the fisherman. DPJ Secretary General Yukio Hatoyama said: “Prime Minister Koizumi shows no interest in the problem of the Northern Territories, and in particular in the issue of concluding an agreement on measures to ensure the safety of fishing in this area.” According to Hatoyama, “the lack of a coherent policy led to such tragic consequences.” There have also been criticisms of Foreign Minister Taro Aso, who lately has allegedly been “solely engaged in nominating his candidacy for the post of the next prime minister, not noticing anything around him.”

During a discussion of the incident with Mikhail Galuzin, Minister-Counselor of the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, Taro Aso noted: “We do not understand each other, speaking as if in different languages ​​from completely different positions, and in such a situation it is very difficult to correct the situation.” Mr. Aso was absolutely right. Japanese officials protested by beginning their speeches with the words “this is our territory.” The Russian side demanded that the Japanese prevent a repetition of violations of their maritime border. “A Japanese fishing vessel invaded Russian territorial waters, and we demand that this does not happen again,” said Mikhail Galuzin.

Takebe's arrival is intended to show political circles and Japanese society that the government's position regarding the territorial problem with Russia is unchanged. On the other hand, this is an attempt to find approaches to the Russian side in order to move the dispute forward. But it is unlikely that this will succeed. In principle, Moscow is satisfied that the scheme of “inseparability of politics and economics”, once adopted by Tokyo, which implied the impossibility of developing business contacts without solving the territorial problem, has now practically collapsed. Large Japanese companies are actively working in Russia - just remember the construction of the Toyota plant near St. Petersburg and the development of oil fields on Sakhalin with the participation of Itochu and Shin-nippon Sekiyu.

Takebe's visit may be preparation for the next Russian-Japanese negotiations scheduled for November this year on a 1998 agreement on fishing in the disputed area. By agreeing with Russia to pay it compensation for certain seafood catch quotas, Japan thereby de facto recognized Russian sovereignty over the islands. People on Smolenskaya Square believe that Tokyo will now try to change the text of the agreement and add to it the territorial affiliation of the Southern Kuril Islands.

Despite the incident with the schooner and the death of the sailor, Japan is not going to take drastic steps. For example, the mayor of the city of Nemuro proposed stopping all types of humanitarian assistance to residents of the South Kuril Islands, including the provision of medical services, as well as canceling the visa-free regime with the Sakhalin region. But the offer was rejected. The next group of five Russians living on the island of Iturup will undergo treatment in two hospitals in the city of Nemuro on the previously planned dates - from August 21 to September 25. According to a representative of the Japanese Foreign Ministry, “despite criticism, this practice is useful for creating the right atmosphere during negotiations on the territorial issue.”

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The Japanese schooner caused an aggravation

Yesterday, Counselor of the Japanese Embassy in Moscow Koichiro Nakamura outlined Tokyo's position regarding the incident with the Japanese fishing schooner: "We would like the Russian side to release the three Japanese sailors as soon as possible, since this incident is straining relations between the two countries." According to the diplomat, “the incident caused a sharp reaction from the Japanese public,” while in Russia “many regarded the incident as a new attempt by the Japanese side to resolve the territorial issue, but this is incorrect.”

While admitting that poaching does exist in the incident area, a representative of the Japanese diplomatic mission could not say whether the Japanese fishermen had licenses to fish and catch seafood: “We don’t know in detail what happened, since the Japanese fishermen are in Russia.” The Japanese emphasized that Russian fishermen are more involved in poaching. According to him, when entering Japanese ports, Russians “present documents permitting fishing, and the Japanese side does not have the opportunity to verify their authenticity.”

Koichiro Nakamura said that LDP Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe, who previously headed the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, arriving in Moscow today, will meet with the leadership of the United Russia party, Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Denisov and the head of the Ministry of Agriculture Alexei Gordeev. A Japanese diplomat told Vremya Novostey that the Secretary General’s visit “is of an internal party nature,” but since Tsutomu Takebe is a native of Hokkaido, the guest will inevitably touch upon what happened with the Japanese schooner.

Andrey FESYUN, RIA Novosti correspondent in Tokyo, for Vremya Novostei