Japan-Russia ties pinched
(From The Japan Times October 6 issue)

日露関係の危機

Apparently taking advantage of the recent Japan-China spat over the Senkaku Islands of Okinawa Prefecture, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev appears to be trying to put pressure on Japan in the bilateral dispute over the sovereignty of four islands east of Hokkaido, aka the Northern Territories.

He visited Beijing on Sept. 26-28, shortly after Japan released, as a result of China's pressure, a Chinese fishing boat captain following collisions in Japanese territorial waters near the Senkakus. He and Chinese President Hu Jintao not only agreed to upgrade the Russia-China "strategic partnership of cooperation" but also issued a joint statement on the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II.

Both leaders, without mentioning Japan, said the Chinese and Russian people suffered major attacks from fascism and militarism, and condemned "attempts" to falsify the war's history. In July, Mr. Medvedev signed into law a bill designating Sept. 2, the date in 1945 that Japan formally surrendered to the Allied Powers, as the memorial day for the end of World War II.

After his Beijing visit, Mr. Medvedev had apparently planned to be the first Russian leader to visit the Northern Territories. On Sept. 28, Sakhalin media reported that his visit to the area was canceled due to bad weather. But the next day, he said in Kamchatka that he will visit there in the near future without fail.

In a logical move the same day, Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara summoned Russian Ambassador to Japan Mikhail Bely and told him that Mr. Medvedev's visit to the Northern Territories would "place a serious obstacle" to Japan-Russia ties and that the joint statement is beyond comprehension.

Mr. Medvedev may be somewhat obsessed with the next Russian presidential election in 2012. Or his move may be broadly based on his confidence that Russia has almost recovered from the shambles brought about by the Soviet communist empire's collapse in 1991 and his view that the power of the United States, Japan's key ally, is on the wane. Japan must reconstruct a strategy that helps develop trustful Japan-Russia relations but does not compromise Japan's fundamental principles against expansionism.

メドベージェフ露大統領は尖閣事件に乗じて北方領土問題で日本に圧力をかけようとしているようだ。

日本が同事件の中国人船長を釈放した後の訪中で、中露の両首脳は｢戦略的協力パートナーシップ｣の強化で合意、第二次世界大戦終結65周年の共同声明に調印した。

日本については名指しはしなかったが、両者はファシズムと軍国主義に国民が苦しめられたと述べ、歴史の歪曲を非難した。

訪中後、大統領は北方領土訪問を計画し取りやめたものの、近く必ず訪問すると言明した。

2012年の大統領選を意識しているのか、ソ連崩壊後ロシアが立ち直った自信や日本の同盟国である米国の威力が弱まっているとの考えからきた言動か。日本は拡張政策反対の原則を守りながら、日露の信頼関係を構築する戦略を立て直すべきだ。