Japan's Border Issues: Pitfalls and Prospects by Akihiro Iwashita

Author:Akihiro Iwashita [Iwashita, Akihiro]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: International Relations, Ethnic Studies, Diplomacy, Social Science, Political Science, Regional Studies, General
ISBN: 9781317424017
Google: oqrhCgAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 27784064
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2015-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

Between “zero” and “two”

Having seen with his own eyes the distress of Nemuro, the author began to think about a settlement proposal for the Northern Territories issue and a plan for the development of the “border town” of Nemuro. There have been plenty of commentators in favor of a national policy of more support for Nemuro, but the current difficulties stem from the fact that policies to help Nemuro have been extensions of approaches to the Northern Territories negotiations. For example, the amendments that were made to the above-mentioned Special Measures for an Early Resolution of the Northern Territory issue fit into this category. Neither the demands nor the first draft emanating from Nemuro said anything about “inherent territory.” However, politicians zealous about aiding both Nemuro and the Northern Territories return movement inserted those words. The result was a backlash from Russia, which claimed, “Due to the war, the islands are Russian territory,” and ultimately contributed to President Dmitrii Medvedev visiting Kunashiri. Although a measure supposedly to aid Nemuro, these obligatory slogans were inserted despite knowing that they would offend Russia, and ironically Nemuro’s faint hopes of a resolution disappeared into thin air. Even if from the start a resolution was not hoped for, this must have been anticipated as being a strong provocation to Russia. Alternatively, if the assumption is that there are no prospects for resolving the Northern Territories issue in the near future, perhaps these measures are offered as a sop to Nemuro. If the latter, then this effort is totally insufficient. A development policy for Nemuro, a city of 100,000, should be a top priority of the state.

Incidentally, there has been no way for Nemuro to better harness any benefits since the mid-2000s. The cul-de-sac of negotiations in recent years has been that the 1956 Joint Declaration links the Peace Treaty with the return of two islands. To put it another way, if a peace treaty is concluded and the two islands are handed over to Japan, no matter how the negotiations stack up, there is no need for Etorofu and Kunashiri to be returned. This is the logic offered by those who criticize the “two plus two” policy. Yet dismantling the “wall” in front of Nosappu, reuniting what to them is their essential living area, would be most desirous for the people of Nemuro. So, would it be possible to first negotiate for the return of the Habomais? If the Habomais could be regained without wrestling with the issue of a peace treaty, while the return of Shikotan is able to be examined with that of Kunashiri and Etorofu after a peace treaty were concluded, it would also be compatible with the Joint Declaration of 1956. Locals appeared on the whole to welcome this idea, while the experts involved in negotiations and well-informed pundits were uniformly negative. “If it is realized, Japan would never get even Shikotan back” and “only Moscow would be delighted.”

Actually there is a reason behind this. The report issued by the

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.