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TOKYO: Japan’s dream of regaining four Russian-held islands, key to signing a World War Two peace pact, was as distant as ever on Friday after talks in Moscow reached an impasse, then got caught up in a political scandal in Tokyo.
A Japanese proposal involving the initial return of two of the four islands was abandoned this week, throwing the future of the negotiations into confusion.
Analysts said Moscow had always been lukewarm at best about the proposal.
Additional complications have arisen from the fact that one of the Japanese sponsors of the proposal, powerful ruling party lawmaker Muneo Suzuki, was involved in a widening scandal over a lengthy list of misdeeds, including meddling in foreign policy.
He was forced to resign from the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) on Friday as a result.
Tokyo refuses to sign a peace treaty unless the rocky islands just 15 kms off its northernmost island of Hokkaido, seized by Russia in the waning days of the war, are returned.
Despite the passage of nearly six decades, both sides have clung fiercely to their opposing views, with Japan insisting on getting all four islands back and Russia resisting, despite prospects of substantial aid if they gave in.
The economic and strategic interest is slight, especially given the infrastructure investments Tokyo would have to make.
CONTROVERSIAL PROPOSAL: The islands 1,000 kms north of Tokyo, which Japan calls the Northern Territories, consist of Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and the Habomai islets.
Last year, then-Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori led a push to set up a “two-track” framework for the talks based on a 1956 understanding in which Moscow agreed to return two of the four islands once a peace pact was signed.
One framework would have discussed the return of the islands mentioned in the 1956 understanding, the other the fate of the remaining two. It was this formula that was abandoned in Moscow.
Suzuki, known for his clout in the Foreign Ministry, particularly on Russian affairs, was said to be behind the “two-track” initiative.
It was presented as a step forward, but in fact ran counter to some of Japan’s most deeply-held views, such as not accepting interim deals on the islands, and set off widespread controversy.
Others, though, said this was just the latest stage in a long saga of tortuous talks and broken promises, and should not be viewed too darkly.
The issue is highly emotional on both sides.
Despite the emotion, analysts say the reality is that the issue has been superseded by more crucial concerns: Afghanistan, China and North Korea.—Reuters
