Japan readopts hard-line stance on territorial dispute with Russia

Kyodo News Tokyo has returned to a hard-line stance in its decades-long territorial dispute with Moscow following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, stating in its annual foreign policy report released Friday that four northern islands are "illegally occupied" by Russia. The wording on the status of the islands, off Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, used in the 2022 Diplomatic Bluebook appeared for the first time since the 2003 report, highlighting Tokyo's departure from a conciliatory approach toward Moscow. The dispute over the islands -- Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islet group -- stems from their seizure by the Soviet Union, Russia's predecessor state, in the weeks following Japan's World War II surrender on Aug. 15, 1945. It has prevented the two nations from signing a peace treaty. The bluebook also said the islands, called the Southern Kurils in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, are an "inherent" part of the territory of Japan, a description that had been absent since the 2011 report. "The Northern Territories are islands over which Japan has sovereignty, and are an inherent part of the territory of Japan, but now are illegally occupied by Russia," the bluebook said. Calling the Russian invasion of Ukraine "an outrage that undermines the foundation of the international order not only in Europe but also in Asia," the report said the current circumstances leave the prospects for an outcome in the territorial talks uncertain. The Japanese government strongly demands that Russia heed the criticism of the international community, withdraw its troops from Ukraine and comply with international law, the report states. Japan has imposed economic sanctions in line with Western nations since the invasion began on Feb. 24. The administration of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe hoped that progress in negotiations on the territorial issue would lead to the return of some of the islands based on a 1956 bilateral treaty. During his tenure from December 2012 through September 2020, Abe met with Russian President Vladimir Putin over 20 times without a breakthrough. Under the 1956 pact, the Soviet Union agreed to return some of the islands upon the conclusion of a peace treaty. ==Kyodo