日本稱受爭議島嶼“被俄羅斯非法佔領”

Recently Yahoo News on-line reported the following:

Japan says disputed islands 'illegally occupied by Russia'

MARI YAMAGUCHI

Fri, April 22, 2022, 4:17 AM

TOKYO (AP) — Japan describes four islands whose ownership it disputes with Moscow as “illegally occupied by Russia” in the latest version of a diplomatic report released Friday, using stronger language to describe the territorial flap than other recent versions and underscoring the chilled relations between the two sides amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The description in the 2022 Diplomatic Bluebook, an annual report on Japan's foreign policy issued by the Foreign Ministry, uses that phrasing for the first time in nearly two decades. Japan, which is struggling to improve ties with Moscow to regain control of the Kurils, which Tokyo calls the Northern Territories, had previously described the dispute in a softer tone.

“The Northern Territories are a group of islands Japan has sovereignty over and an integral part of Japan’s territory, but currently they are illegally occupied by Russia,” the ministry said in the report.

The dispute over the Russian-held islands, which the former Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II, has prevented the two countries from signing a peace treaty formally ending their war hostilities.

The report last used a similar expression in 2003 but had toned down its phrasing until last year, when it described the dispute as “the greatest concern between Japan and Russia” and noted that “Japan has sovereignty” over the islands.

In another territorial dispute, the ministry said the island that Japan calls Takeshima is “illegally occupied” by Seoul, which calls it Dokdo.

South Korea’s Foreign Ministry protested Japan’s “repeated inclusion of unjust sovereignty claims over Dokdo,” calling the island an integral part of South Korean territory. It said Tokyo’s repeated claims are in “no way conducive to efforts to establish a future-oriented relationship between the two sides.” Japan-South Korea ties have been also badly strained by historical issues.

Japan has joined other Group of Seven countries in imposing a series of sanctions against Russia. Tokyo is taking a greater role in the international effort against Russia because of its concerns about the impact of the invasion in East Asia, where China’s military has grown increasingly assertive.

Japan has already faced reprisals from Russia, which recently announced the suspension of talks on a peace treaty with Tokyo that included negotiations over the disputed islands.

Japan also seeks to bolster its defense capability and budget as part of a key revision to Japan’s national security strategy expected later this year.

Translation

東京（美聯社）- 日本在周五發布的最新版外交報告中, 將與莫斯科有爭議的四個島嶼描述為“被俄羅斯非法佔領”，使用比其他近期版本更強烈的語言來描述領土爭端變動，凸顯了在俄羅斯入侵烏克蘭期間雙方之間冷淡的關係。

外務省發布的日本外交政策年度報告《2022年外交藍皮書》中的描述是近二十年來首次使用該措辭。日本在努力改善與莫斯科的關係以重新控制千島群島，東京稱其為北部領土，此前曾以較溫和的語氣描述了這場爭端。

該省在報告中說: “北方領土是日本擁有主權的一組島嶼，是日本領土不可分割的一部分，但目前它們被俄羅斯非法佔領” 。

前蘇聯在二戰結束時從日本手中奪取了俄羅斯現控制的島嶼，導致兩國無法簽署和平條約，正式結束戰爭敵對行動。

該報告上一次使用類似的表述是在 2003 年，但直到去年才緩和了措辭，當時將爭端描述為“日本和俄羅斯之間最大的擔憂”，並指出“日本對這些島嶼擁有主權”。

在另一項領土爭端中，該省表示，日本稱之為竹島的島嶼被首爾 “非法佔領”，首爾稱其為獨島。

韓國外交部抗議日本“一再加入對獨島的不公正主權主張”，稱該島是韓國領土不可分割的一部分。聲明稱，東京方面的一再主張“無助於雙方建立面向未來的關係”。日韓關係也因歷史問題而嚴重緊張。

日本與其他七國集團國家一起，對俄羅斯實施了一系列制裁。東京在針對俄羅斯的國際行動中擔任了較大角色，它擔心這入侵对東亞的影響，因為中國的軍隊在東亞變得越來越自信。

日本已經面臨來自俄羅斯的報復，俄羅斯最近宣布暫停與東京的和平條約談判，其中包括就爭議島嶼進行談判。

日本還尋求加強其國防能力和預算，作為預計今年晚些時候對日本國家安全戰略進行重大修訂的一部分。

       So, regarding Russia’s recent announcement on the suspension of talks on the negotiations over the disputed islands, all along I have doubt on whether Russia has any motivation in negotiating with Japan. In the mind of the Russian, territorial gain is above everything. This is a contrast to the US whose interest is in spreading political and cultural influence globally.