Premise of mutual confidence
(From The Japan Times June 3 issue)

北方領土問題解決への道

    Still, Japan has not given up pinning strong hopes on a Russian leader's visit to Tokyo for talks with Japanese leaders. The reason is simple: A breakthrough in matters of national sovereignty, such as a territorial dispute or border demarcation, can be found basically through the political decisions of a national leader.

    That is why Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's visit to Japan on May 31 drew interest here. In talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, he confirmed that Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Japan by yearend.

    In response to Japan's consistent policy of seeking to resolve the sovereignty of the four northern islands (Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and the Habomai islets) — which are indigenous Japanese territory — before concluding a peace treaty, the administration of President Putin has bolstered its stance of seeking a final solution through the return of two islands, Shikotan and Habomai. The Putin administration steadfastly holds on to the position that the 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration, which stipulated the return of the two islands after the conclusion of a peace treaty, is the sole basis for a settlement. Moscow has tended to regard the 1993 Tokyo Declaration, which clarified that the problem concerned the return of four islands, as merely a political declaration.

    However, that declaration is an official document signed by then Prime Minister Morihiro Hosokawa and Russian President Boris Yeltsin. In 1997, then Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and President Yeltsin agreed to make the utmost efforts to conclude a peace treaty by 2000 on the basis of the Tokyo Declaration. President Putin confirmed this policy in talks with Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in 2001.

    Russia makes a very convenient interpretation of the 1956 Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration. In talks from 1955 to 1956, Japan and the Soviet Union could not reach agreement on the Northern Territories problem, apart from the two islands of Shikotan and Habomai, so they agreed first of all to sign a joint declaration announcing an end to the state of war and the restoration of diplomatic ties. They agreed that the two islands would be returned to Japan after the conclusion of a peace treaty and that peace treaty negotiations would continue. It is not written anywhere that the return of the two islands represents a total settlement of the problem.

    The negotiated return of the territories, which were illegally occupied by the Soviet Union after the end of World War II, will not be easy. Recently, however, there have been some developments that deserve attention. In the fall of last year, Russia reached agreement with China on the demarcation of an eastern border, a dispute that had dragged on for four decades. Deliberations on approval of the agreement are taking place in the Russian Parliament. And in January, Russia signed a border demarcation document with Kazakstan.

    Apart from the territorial issue, bilateral relations between Japan and Russia have been developing steadily. In 2004, bilateral trade expanded by about 50 percent over the previous year to reach around $9 billion. As for the construction of an oil pipeline from East Siberia to the Far East, over which Japan and China have been competing, the Russian government has decided to start work on the Pacific route in accordance with Japan's proposal.

    On the basis of the Japan-Russia Action Plan agreed between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and President Putin during the former's visit to Russia in 2003, cultural exchange, personnel exchange as well as political and defense dialogues between the two countries are on the rise.

    Even if a spectacular leap forward in the territorial problem cannot be expected, it is important to explore common interests through economic cooperation and strengthened exchange to foster mutual confidence, which is the essential premise for a settlement to the territorial problem.

The Japan Times Weekly
June 11, 2005
(C) All rights reserved

      しかし、領土紛争、国境画定などの問題は、基本的に国家指導者の政治判断で解決できるものだ。したがって、ラブロフ露外相が町村外相との5月31日の会談で、プーチン大統領の年内訪日を確認したことは注目すべきである。

      日本は日露平和条約の締結前に北方領土4島（択捉、国後、色丹、歯舞）全部の返還を求めているが、プーチン政権は色丹、歯舞のみの返還で最終決着を図る姿勢である。露は、平和条約締結後の2島返還を明記した1956年の日ソ共同宣言を解決の根拠として、北方領土問題を4島の帰属に関する問題と明記した1993年の東京宣言は単なる政治文書と主張している。

      しかし、東京宣言は当時の細川首相とエリツィン大統領が交わした公式文書である。1997年には、橋本首相とエリツィン大統領は、東京宣言に基づき2000年までに日露平和条約を締結するため最大限の努力をすることを約束した。プーチン大統領は2001年に森首相に対し、この方針を確認した。

      日ソは1956年、北方領土問題未解決のまま、戦争状態の終結、外交正常化のために共同宣言に調印した。両国は色丹、歯舞の2島は平和条約締結後に返還することにして、条約の交渉継続に合意した。2島の返還で領土問題が解決するとはどこにも書いていない。

      領土問題以外の関係は順調で、2004年には日露間の貿易は前年比50％増の90億ドルに達した。

      小泉首相とプーチン大統領が2003年に合意した日露アクションプランの下で、両国は文化・人事交流、政治・防衛対話を推進している。領土問題に急速な進展は期待できないにしても、経済協力、各種の交流などを通じ相互信頼を醸成することが、領土問題解決への道になるだろう。