The Kuriles are disputed territories. Why does Japan claim the Kuriles? (6 photos)

07.07.2020

And equipping the islands is not profitable

Japan refused Dmitry MEDVEDEV's proposal to create a free trade zone with Russia in the South Kuriles. At the same time, Japanese Deputy Foreign Minister Takeaki MATSUMOTO stressed that Japan considers the four islands of the Kuril chain to be its territory and the proposal Russian President does not correspond to the Japanese position.

Why these islands are so important to the Japanese and why we need them, explained our political consultant Anatoly WASSERMAN.

Japan claims four islands in the southern part of the Kuril chain - Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai, referring to the bilateral treatise on trade and borders of 1855. We stand on the fact that the South Kuriles became part of the USSR, the successor of which was Russia, following the results of the Second World War. And Russian sovereignty over them is beyond doubt. But because of Khrushchev's stupidity, we still have to chew this Japanese gum for a long time. Let me explain.

The Japanese need the Kuriles for two reasons. Firstly, there are a lot of natural values \u200b\u200bon the South Kuril Islands and in the ocean around them: rare expensive metals, a hell of a lot of all kinds of fish and aquatic animals that our fishermen catch and immediately resell to the Japanese without even entering to ports. For us, this living creature is of no significant value, but for the Japanese it is - that for Ukrainians it is a daily fat. Not to mention natural resources, of which Japan has too little in principle. The second reason is prestige. Japan is very upset to lose their territories. Although America did not formally take anything from Japan as a result of World War II, Okinawa, the largest island in the Japanese Ryukyu archipelago, turned out to be an American base for several decades and remained under US jurisdiction. We really took away from them not only the southern part of Sakhalin, which they took from us after Russo-Japanese War, but also the Kuril Islands - Russia left them behind Japan in 1867. In 1956, he was the first to commit a stupidity Nikita Khrushchev, promising to give up the island of Shikotan and a group of small Habomai islands as a carrot in front of their noses after the conclusion of a peace treaty. Behind him, the promise to give up the islands, subject to the signing of a peace agreement, was repeated Gorbachev and Yeltsin. The Japanese clung to the vague wording and changed the course of action: first, give up the islands, and then we will sign agreements. Moreover, two more islands were added to the islands promised by Khrushchev - Kunashir and Iturup. In this case, we lose the most convenient navigational approaches to the Pacific Ocean in the southern part of the Kuril chain, which will dramatically complicate for us the entire Pacific navigation. In addition, for Russia, the return of these islands is an absolutely catastrophic loss of prestige. For yet Suvorov developed a formula: what is taken from the battle is holy. For us, these islands are a war trophy, and the military has such a sign: to give a trophy means to be defeated in the next war.

For the Japanese, the Kuriles are revenge for the defeat in World War II, and for us, it is confirmation that we are still a great power. Therefore, a solution to the issue is not expected in the near future. It is also impractical to equip these islands: they are too small and isolated from the world by storms for most of the year. It would be possible to build shift camps for seasonal work there. For example, fish processing bases, mines for the extraction of rare metals, laboratories, to create transshipment bases for cargo there. But the workers need infrastructure, and its support is too costly. However, militarily, the Kuriles provide us with access to the Pacific Ocean and at the same time block the approach of the military forces of a potential enemy. There are now located radar systems that provide surveillance of the Pacific waters. Losing them is extremely dangerous for us.

East fact

Until 1855, Three Sisters (Kunashir), Citron (Iturup), Figured (Shikotan) and Green (Khabomai) were part of Russian Empire, and then, according to the Japanese-Russian treatise on trade and borders ("Shimodsky treatise"), they were given to Japan. After the defeat of Japan in World War II, the islands returned to the jurisdiction of the USSR.

"These areas are not part of Kuril Islands, which Japan abandoned under the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951." Pars pro toto. The whole cannot equal the part. "...create the danger that we mistakenly take the part for the whole. …encourage us - dangerously - to mistake parts for the whole." Japan renounced not the North Kuril Islands, but the Kuril Islands. Treaty of San Francisco 1951. 8 Septembeer. Chapter II. Territory. Article 2. (c) "Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands, … Japan renounces the rights, titles and claims to the Kurile Islands, ... " site / fareast / 20110216 / 166572662.html 16/02/11 The world in our time: Russian anti-aircraft missiles in the Kuriles ("Commentary Magazine", USA) J. Dyer ( J. E. Dyer) P.J. Crowley made it equally clear that the treaty does not apply to defense of the Kuril Islands, because the islands are “not under Japanese administration.” J. Crowley just as clearly pointed out that the treaty does not apply to the defense of the Kuril Islands, since they are “not under Japanese control.” If the Japanese authorities look at the San Francisco Treaty and see after the words "Yap-ya renounces" instead of real 4 hieroglyphs "Chishima retto" (Kurile Archipelago, Kuriles) 4 virtual "Hoppo-no Chishima" (Northern Kuriles), then what can be the clinical DIAGNOSIS? All the Kuril Islands were called and are called in Japanese by one name, it sounds something like "Chishima", which translates as "1000 islands". The Southern Kuriles are called "Minami Chishima" or "Southern Chishima". In the description of the modern revisionist map of the Nemuro Subprefecture, where they painstakingly brought the Southern Kuriles, a combination of hieroglyphs "Minami Chishima" is used. , in international documents, in particular in memorandum 677 (a separate clause, among others, which removed the Kuril Islands from the sovereignty of Japan) used English transcription Chishima, that is, all the Kuriles. It is funny and sad at the same time! Yap-ya looks like an enraged husband. discovered after the divorce that he was deprived of access to the body. If you clearly said PAS in the game, you will not be able to get involved in the game again! Japan itself abdicated in San Francisco in 1951. If a mother gives the child to an orphanage and signs a notarized renunciation of the child, then what does it matter to a person who wants to adopt if he was not a witness to the signing of the renunciation? The same is true in case of divorce. How many husbands married to ex-divorced wives witnessed that divorce being finalized? These are the kind we have in Japan, in the Russian Federation, God forgive me, jurists. The LAW clearly distinguishes between "lost (and newly found)" property and "Abandoned" property. When property is lost, the law sees that the loss occurred by accident and against the will of the owner. Found someone else's property cannot be appropriated and must be returned to the owner in due time. On the contrary, when the owner VOLUNTARY parted with his property, the law asserts that the property becomes not belonging to anyone, to anyone, and, therefore, not only the above property, but also all rights to its maintenance and use, passes to the FIRST person who took possession of it. them. Claims to the San Francisco treaty are unfounded, since for the Anglo-Saxons the rights of the USSR were self-evident. Japan renounced Kurile (not North-ern Kurile, Jap. Chishima (not Hoppo no Chishima) on mature reflection, 6 years after the war. What else do you need a FORMULA OF RENUNCIATION?

Recently, Shinzo Abe announced that he would annex the disputed islands of the South Kuril chain to Japan. “I will solve the problem of the northern territories and conclude a peace treaty. As a politician, as a prime minister, I want to achieve this at all costs,” he promised his compatriots.

According to Japanese tradition, Shinzo Abe will have to do hara-kiri if he doesn't keep his word. It is quite possible that Vladimir Putin will help the Japanese prime minister live to a ripe old age and die a natural death. Photo by Alexander Vilf (Getty Images).

In my opinion, everything goes to the fact that the long-standing conflict will be settled. The time for establishing decent relations with Japan was chosen very well - for the empty hard-to-reach lands, which their former owners now and then look nostalgically, you can get a lot of material benefits from one of the most powerful economies in the world. And the lifting of sanctions as a condition for the transfer of the islands is far from the only and not the main concession that our Foreign Ministry is now seeking, I am sure.

So the quite expected surge of quasi-patriotism of our liberals, directed at the Russian president, should be prevented.

I have already had to analyze in detail the history of the islands of Tarabarov and Bolshoy Ussuriysky on the Amur, the loss of which Moscow snobs cannot come to terms with. The post also discussed the dispute with Norway over maritime territories, which was also settled.

I also touched upon the secret negotiations between the human rights activist Lev Ponomarev and the Japanese diplomat about the "northern territories", filmed on video and posted online. Generally speaking, one of this video it is enough for our caring citizens to bashfully swallow the return of the islands to Japan, if it takes place. But since concerned citizens will definitely not keep silent, we must understand the essence of the problem.

background

February 7, 1855 Shimodsky treatise on trade and borders. The now disputed islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands have been ceded to Japan (therefore, February 7 is annually celebrated in Japan as Northern Territories Day). The question of the status of Sakhalin remained unresolved.

May 7, 1875 Petersburg treaty. Japan transferred the rights to all 18 Kuril Islands in exchange for the entire Sakhalin.

August 23, 1905- Treaty of Portsmouth resultsRusso-Japanese War.Russia ceded the southern part of Sakhalin.

February 11, 1945 — Yalta conference. USSR, US and UK reached a written agreement on the entry of the Soviet Union into the war with Japan, subject to the return of South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to it after the end of the war.

February 2, 1946 on the basis of the Yalta agreements in the USSR Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk region was created - on the territory of the southern part of the island Sakhalin and Kuril Islands. January 2, 1947 she was merged with Sakhalin Oblast Khabarovsk Territory, which expanded to the borders of the modern Sakhalin Region.

Japan enters the Cold War

September 8, 1951 The Treaty of San Francisco was signed between the Allied Powers and Japan. Regarding the now disputed territories, it says the following: "Japan renounces all rights, titles and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the islands adjacent to it, sovereignty over which Japan acquired under the Portsmouth Treaty of September 5, 1905."

The USSR sent a delegation to San Francisco headed by Deputy Foreign Minister A. Gromyko. But not in order to sign a document, but to voice their position. The said clause of the contract was formulated as follows:"Japan recognizes the full sovereignty of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics over the southern part of Sakhalin Island with all the islands adjacent to it and the Kuril Islands and renounces all rights, titles and claims to these territories."

Of course, in our wording, the treaty is specific and more in line with the spirit and letter of the Yalta agreements. However, the Anglo-American version was adopted. The USSR did not sign it, Japan did.

Today, some historians believe that The USSR had to sign the San Francisco Peace Treaty in the form in which it was proposed by the Americans This would strengthen our negotiating position. “We should have signed a contract. I don’t know why we didn’t do this - perhaps because of vanity or pride, but above all, because Stalin overestimated his capabilities and the degree of his influence on the United States, ”N.S. wrote in his memoirs .Khrushchev. But soon, as we shall see later, he himself made a mistake.

From today's standpoint, the lack of a signature under the notorious treaty is sometimes considered almost a diplomatic failure. However, the international situation of that time was much more complicated and was not limited to the Far East. Perhaps, what seems to someone a loss, in those conditions became a necessary measure.

Japan and sanctions

It is sometimes erroneously believed that since we do not have a peace treaty with Japan, we are in a state of war. However, this is not at all the case.

December 12, 1956 The exchange of letters took place in Tokyo, marking the entry into force of the Joint Declaration. According to the document, the USSR agreed to "the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Islands to Japan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan."

The parties came to this wording after several rounds. long negotiations. Japan's initial proposal was simple: a return to Potsdam - that is, the transfer of all the Kuriles and South Sakhalin to it. Of course, such a proposal by the losing side of the war looked somewhat frivolous.

The USSR was not going to cede an inch, but unexpectedly for the Japanese, Habomai and Shikotan suddenly offered. This was a reserve position, approved by the Politburo, but announced prematurely - the head of the Soviet delegation, Ya.A. Malik, was acutely worried about N.S. On August 9, 1956, during a conversation with his counterpart in the garden of the Japanese embassy in London, the reserve position was announced. It was she who entered the text of the Joint Declaration.

It must be clarified that the influence of the United States on Japan at that time was enormous (however, as now). They closely monitored all her contacts with the USSR and, undoubtedly, were the third participant in the negotiations, although invisible.

At the end of August 1956, Washington threatened Tokyo that if, under a peace treaty with the USSR, Japan renounces its claims to Kunashir and Iturup, the United States will forever retain the occupied island of Okinawa and the entire Ryukyu archipelago. The note included a wording that clearly played on the national feelings of the Japanese: “The US government has come to the conclusion that the islands of Iturup and Kunashir (along with the islands of Habomai and Shikotan, which are part of Hokkaido) have always been part of Japan and should rightly be considered as belonging to Japan ". That is, the Yalta agreements were publicly disavowed.

The affiliation of the "northern territories" of Hokkaido, of course, is a lie - on all military and pre-war Japanese maps, the islands have always been part of the Kuril ridge and have never been designated separately. However, the idea was well received. It was on this geographical absurdity that entire generations of politicians in the Land of the Rising Sun made their careers.

The peace treaty has not yet been signed - in our relations we are guided by the Joint Declaration of 1956.

Issue price

I think that even in the first term of his presidency, Vladimir Putin decided to settle all disputed territorial issues with his neighbors. Including with Japan. In any case, back in 2004, Sergey Lavrov formulated the position of the Russian leadership: “We have always fulfilled and will continue to fulfill our obligations, especially ratified documents, but, of course, to the extent that our partners are ready to fulfill the same agreements . So far, as we know, we have not been able to reach an understanding of these volumes as we see it and as we saw it in 1956.

“Until the ownership of all four islands by Japan is clearly determined, a peace treaty will not be concluded,” responded the then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. The negotiation process has again reached an impasse.

However, this year we again remembered the peace treaty with Japan.

In May, at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to negotiate with Japan on the disputed islands, and the solution should be a compromise. That is, none of the parties should feel like a loser. “Are you ready to negotiate? Yes, ready. But we were surprised to hear recently that Japan has joined some kind of sanctions - and here Japan, I don’t really understand - and is suspending the negotiation process on this topic. So we are ready, is Japan ready, I haven’t learned for myself, ”said the President of the Russian Federation.

It seems that the pain point is found correctly. And the negotiation process (I hope, this time in offices tightly closed from American ears) has been in full swing for at least six months. Otherwise, Shinzo Abe would not have made such promises.

If we fulfill the terms of the 1956 Joint Declaration and return the two islands to Japan, 2,100 people will have to be resettled. All of them live on Shikotan, only a frontier post is located on Habomai. Most likely, the problem of the presence of our armed forces on the islands is being discussed. However, for complete control over the region, the troops deployed on Sakhalin, Kunashir and Iturup are quite enough.

Another question is what reciprocal concessions we expect from Japan. It is clear that the sanctions should be lifted - this is not even discussed. Perhaps access to credits and technologies, expansion of participation in joint projects? Not excluded.

Be that as it may, Shinzo Abe faces a difficult choice. The conclusion of the long-awaited peace treaty with Russia, spiced with "northern territories", would certainly have made him the politician of the century in his homeland. It will inevitably lead to tension in relations between Japan and the United States. I wonder what the Prime Minister would prefer.

And we will somehow survive the internal Russian tension that our liberals will inflate.

The Habomai group of islands is labeled "Other Islands" on this map. These are several white spots between Shikotan and Hokkaido.
____________________

65 years ago, on September 8, 1951, a peace treaty between the countries of the Anti-Hitler Coalition and Japan was signed in San Francisco. The USSR, however, refused to sign that treaty because of the incorrect wording on the Kuriles: Japan admitted that it was transferring the southern part of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands to the USSR, but ... not all.

Editor L.J. Media

The history of the end of the Second World War is interesting.

As you know, on August 6, 1945, the US Air Force dropped a nuclear bomb on Hiroshima, and then on August 9, 1945, on Nagasaki. The plans were to drop several more bombs, the third of which would be ready by August 17-18 and would have been dropped if such an order had been given by Truman. Tom did not have to solve the dilemma, since on August 14-15 the Japanese government announced its surrender.

Soviet and Russian citizens, of course, know that by dropping nuclear bombs, the Americans committed a war crime, purely to scare Stalin, and the Americans and Japanese - that they forced Japan to capitulate in World War II, which saved at least a million human lives, mostly military and civilian Japanese, and of course, allied soldiers, mainly from among the Americans.

Imagine for a moment, did the Americans scare Stalin with a nuclear bomb, even if they suddenly set such a goal? The answer is obvious - no. The USSR entered the war with Japan only on August 8, 1945, i.e. 2 days after the bombing of Hiroshima. The date of May 8 is not accidental. At the Yalta Conference on February 4-11, 1945, Stalin promised that the USSR would go to war with Japan 2-3 months after the end of the war with Germany, with which [Japan] had a neutrality pact concluded on April 13, 1941 (see. the main events of World War II according to the author of this LJ). Thus, Stalin fulfilled his promise on the last day of the promised 2-3 months after the surrender of Germany, but immediately after the bombing of Hiroshima. Would he have fulfilled this promise or not without it, is interesting question, perhaps historians have an answer to it, but this is not known to me.

So, Japan announced its surrender on August 14-15, but this did not lead to the end of hostilities against the USSR. The Soviet army continued to advance in Manchuria. Again, it is obvious to Soviet and Russian citizens that hostilities continued because the Japanese army refused to surrender because some did not reach the surrender order, and some ignored it. The question is, of course, what would happen if the Soviet army stopped offensive operations after August 14-15. Would this lead to the surrender of the Japanese and save about 10 thousand lives of Soviet soldiers?

As is known, between Japan and the USSR, and after Russia, there is still no peace treaty. The problem of a peace treaty is linked to the so-called "northern territories" or the disputed islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge.

Let's start. Under the cut, a Google earth image of the territory of Hokkaido (Japan) and now Russian territories to the north - Sakhalin, the Kuriles and Kamchatka. The Kuril Islands are divided into the Big Ridge, which includes large and small islands from Shumshu in the north to Kunashir in the south, and the Small Ridge, which includes Shikotan in the north to the islands of the Habomai group in the south (limited in the diagram by white lines).

From the blog

To understand the problem of disputed territories, let's plunge into the deaf history of the development of the Far East by the Japanese and Russians. Before those and others, local Ainu and other nationalities lived there, whose opinion, according to the good old tradition, does not bother anyone because of their almost complete disappearance (Ainu) and / or Russification (Kamchadals). The Japanese were the first to enter these territories. First they came to Hokkaido, and by 1637 they had mapped Sakhalin and the Kuriles.

From the blog

Later, Russians came to these places, drew up maps and dates, and in 1786 Catherine II declared the Kuriles her possessions. Sakhalin thus remained a draw.

From the blog

In 1855, namely on February 7, an agreement was signed between Japan and Russia, according to which Urup and the islands of the Great Kuril ridge to the north went to Russia, and Iturup and the islands to the south, including all the islands of the Lesser Kuril ridge - to Japan. Sakhalin, speaking modern language, was a disputed possession. True, due to the small number of Japanese and Russian populations, the issue was not so serious at the state level, except that merchants had problems.

From the blog

In 1875, the issue of Sakhalin was settled in St. Petersburg. Sakhalin passed completely to Russia, in return Japan received all the Kuril Islands.

From the blog

In 1904, the Russo-Japanese War began in the Far East, in which Russia was defeated, and as a result, in 1905, the southern part of Sakhalin passed to Japan. In 1925 the USSR recognizes this state of affairs. After there were all sorts of minor skirmishes, but the status quo lasted until the end of World War II.

From the blog

Finally, at the Yalta Conference on February 4-11, 1945, Stalin discussed the issue of the Far East with the Allies. I repeat, he promised that the USSR would enter the war with Japan after the victory over Germany, which was already just around the corner, but in return the USSR would return Sakhalin, as illegally conquered by Japan during the war of 1905, and would receive the Kuriles, though in an indefinite amount.

And here the most interesting begins in the context of the Kuril Islands.

August 16-23 with fights Soviet army breaks the Japanese grouping in the Northern Kuriles (Shumshu). On August 27-28, without a fight, since the Japanese surrendered, the Soviet Army takes Urup. On September 1, there is a landing on Kunashir and Shikotan, the Japanese do not offer any resistance.

From the blog

September 2, 1945 Japan signs the surrender - Second World War officially completed. And here comes the Crimean operation to seize the islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge, located south of Shikotan, known as the Habomai Islands.

The war is over, and the Soviet land continues to grow with native Japanese islands. Moreover, I never found when Tanfilyev Island (a completely deserted and flat piece of land off the very coast of Hokkaido) became ours. But it is certain that in 1946 a frontier post was organized there, which became a well-known massacre, which was staged by two Russian border guards in 1994.

From the blog

As a result, Japan does not recognize the seizure of its "northern territories" by the USSR and does not recognize that these territories have passed to Russia as the legal successor of the USSR. February 7 (according to the date of the agreement with Russia in 1855) celebrates the day of the Northern Territories, which, according to the agreement of 1855, include all the islands south of Urup.

An attempt (unsuccessful) to solve this problem was made in 1951 in San Francisco. Japan, under this treaty, must renounce any claims to Sakhalin and the Kuriles, with the exception of Shikotan and the Habomai group. The USSR did not sign the treaty. The United States signed the treaty with the proviso: It is envisaged that the terms of the Treaty will not mean the recognition for the USSR of any rights or claims in the territories that belonged to Japan on December 7, 1941, which would prejudice the rights and legal foundations of Japan in these territories, nor will any however there were provisions in favor of the USSR with respect to Japan contained in the Yalta Agreement.»

Soviet comments on the treaty:

Gromyko's (USSR Foreign Minister) remark on the treaty: The Soviet delegation has already drawn the conference's attention to the inadmissibility of such a situation when the draft peace treaty with Japan does not say that Japan should recognize the sovereignty of the Soviet Union over South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands. The project is in gross contradiction with the obligations in respect of these territories undertaken by the United States and Britain under the Yalta Agreement. http://www.hrono.ru/dokum/195_dok/19510908gromy.php

In 1956, the USSR promised Japan to return Shikotan and the Habomai group if Japan did not lay claim to Kunashir and Iturup. Whether the Japanese agreed with this or not, opinions differ. We say yes - Shikotan and Habomai are yours, and Kunashir and Iturup are ours. The Japanese say that everything south of Urup is theirs.

UPD Declaration text: At the same time, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, meeting the wishes of Japan and taking into account the interests of the Japanese state, agrees to the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Islands to Japan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion.

The Japanese then played back (like under pressure from the Americans), linking together all the islands south of Urup.

I do not want to predict how history will unfold further, but most likely Japan will use ancient Chinese wisdom and wait until all the disputed islands sail to them themselves. The only question is whether they will stop at the 1855 treaty or go further to the 1875 treaty.

____________________________

Shinzo Abe announced that he would annex the disputed islands of the South Kuril chain to Japan. “I will solve the problem of the northern territories and conclude a peace treaty. As a politician, as a prime minister, I want to achieve this at all costs,” he promised his compatriots.

According to Japanese tradition, Shinzo Abe will have to do hara-kiri if he does not keep his word. It is quite possible that Vladimir Putin will help the Japanese prime minister live to a ripe old age and die a natural death.

In my opinion, everything goes to the fact that the long-standing conflict will be settled. The time to establish decent relations with Japan was chosen very well - for the empty hard-to-reach lands, which their former owners now and then look nostalgically, you can get a lot of material benefits from one of the most powerful economies in the world. And the lifting of sanctions as a condition for the transfer of the islands is far from the only and not the main concession, which, I am sure, our Foreign Ministry is now seeking.

So the quite expected surge of quasi-patriotism of our liberals, directed at the Russian president, should be prevented.

background

February 7, 1855 - Shimoda Treatise on Commerce and Frontiers. The now disputed islands of Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and the Habomai group of islands have been ceded to Japan (therefore, February 7 is annually celebrated in Japan as Northern Territories Day). The question of the status of Sakhalin remained unresolved.

May 7, 1875 - Petersburg Treaty. Japan transferred the rights to all 18 Kuril Islands in exchange for the entire Sakhalin.

August 23, 1905 - Treaty of Portsmouth following the results of the Russo-Japanese War. Russia ceded the southern part of Sakhalin.

February 11, 1945 - Yalta Conference. The USSR, USA and Great Britain reached a written agreement on the entry of the Soviet Union into the war with Japan on the condition that South Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands be returned to it after the end of the war.

On February 2, 1946, on the basis of the Yalta Agreements, the Yuzhno-Sakhalin Region was created in the USSR - on the territory of the southern part of Sakhalin Island and the Kuril Islands. On January 2, 1947, it was merged with the Sakhalin Oblast of the Khabarovsk Territory, which expanded to the borders of the modern Sakhalin Oblast.

Japan enters the Cold War

On September 8, 1951, the Peace Treaty between the Allied Powers and Japan was signed in San Francisco. Regarding the now disputed territories, it says the following: "Japan renounces all rights, titles and claims to the Kuril Islands and to that part of Sakhalin Island and the islands adjacent to it, sovereignty over which Japan acquired under the Portsmouth Treaty of September 5, 1905."

The USSR sent a delegation to San Francisco headed by Deputy Foreign Minister A. Gromyko. But not in order to sign a document, but to voice their position. We formulated the mentioned clause of the treaty as follows: “Japan recognizes the full sovereignty of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics over the southern part of Sakhalin Island with all the islands adjacent to it and the Kuril Islands and renounces all rights, titles and claims to these territories.”

Today, some historians believe that the USSR should have signed the San Francisco Peace Treaty in the form in which it was proposed by the Americans - this would strengthen our negotiating position. “We should have signed a contract. I don’t know why we didn’t do this - perhaps because of vanity or pride, but above all, because Stalin overestimated his capabilities and the degree of his influence on the United States, ”N.S. wrote in his memoirs .Khrushchev. But soon, as we shall see later, he himself made a mistake.

Japan and sanctions

It is sometimes erroneously believed that since we do not have a peace treaty with Japan, we are in a state of war. However, this is not at all the case.

On December 12, 1956, a ceremony for the exchange of letters took place in Tokyo, marking the entry into force of the Joint Declaration. According to the document, the USSR agreed to "the transfer of the Habomai Islands and the Shikotan Islands to Japan, however, that the actual transfer of these islands to Japan will be made after the conclusion of a peace treaty between the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and Japan."

The parties came to this wording after several rounds of lengthy negotiations. Japan's initial proposal was simple: a return to Potsdam - that is, the transfer of all the Kuriles and South Sakhalin to it. Of course, such a proposal by the losing side of the war looked somewhat frivolous.

The USSR was not going to cede an inch, but unexpectedly for the Japanese, Habomai and Shikotan suddenly offered. This was a reserve position, approved by the Politburo, but announced prematurely - the head of the Soviet delegation, Ya.A. On August 9, 1956, during a conversation with his counterpart in the garden of the Japanese embassy in London, the reserve position was announced. It was she who entered the text of the Joint Declaration.

The peace treaty has not yet been signed - in our relations we are guided by the Joint Declaration of 1956.

Issue price

"Until Japan's ownership of all four islands is clearly defined, no peace treaty will be concluded," then Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi responded. The negotiation process has again reached an impasse.

However, this year we again remembered the peace treaty with Japan.

In May, at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Vladimir Putin said that Russia was ready to negotiate with Japan on the disputed islands, and the solution should be a compromise. That is, none of the parties should feel like a loser. “Are you ready to negotiate? Yes, ready. But we were surprised to hear recently that Japan has joined some kind of sanctions - and here Japan, I do not really understand - and is suspending the negotiation process on this topic. So we are ready, is Japan ready, I haven’t learned for myself, ”said the President of the Russian Federation.

And we will somehow survive the internal Russian tension that our liberals will inflate.

From the blog

The Habomai group of islands is labeled "Other Islands" on this map. These are several white spots between Shikotan and Hokkaido.

(The post was written more than two years ago, but the situation has not changed as of the current day, but talk about the Kuriles has intensified again in recent days, - ed.)

The dispute between Russia and Japan over this has been going on for decades. Due to the unresolved issue between the two countries, there is still no

Why are the negotiations so difficult and is there a chance to find an acceptable solution that would suit both parties, the iz.ru portal found out.

Political maneuver

“We have been negotiating for seventy years. Shinzo said, "Let's change our minds." Let's. So that's the idea that came to my mind: let's conclude a peace treaty - not now, but before the end of the year - without any preconditions.

This remark by Vladimir Putin at the Vladivostok Economic Forum caused a stir in the media. Japan's response, however, was predictable: Tokyo was not ready to make peace without resolving the territorial issue due to a host of circumstances. Any politician who fixes in an international treaty even a hint of renunciation of claims to the so-called northern territories runs the risk of losing the election and ending his political career.

For decades, Japanese journalists, politicians and scientists have been explaining to the nation that the issue of returning the South Kuriles to the Land of the Rising Sun is fundamental, and in the end they explained it.

Now, with any political maneuver on the Russian front, the Japanese elites must take into account the notorious territorial problem.

Why Japan wants to get the four southern islands of the Kuril chain is understandable. But why does Russia not want to give them away?

From merchants to military bases

On the existence of the Kuril Islands Big world did not suspect until about the middle of the XVII century. The Ainu people who lived on them once inhabited all the Japanese islands, but under the pressure of the invaders who arrived from the mainland - the ancestors of the future Japanese - were gradually destroyed or driven north - to Hokkaido, the Kuriles and Sakhalin.

In 1635-1637, a Japanese expedition explored the southernmost islands of the Kuril chain, in 1643 the Dutch explorer Martin de Vries explored Iturup and Urup and declared the latter the property of the Dutch East India Company. Five years later, the northern islands were discovered by Russian merchants. In the 18th century, the Russian government took up the exploration of the Kuriles in earnest.

Russian expeditions reached the very south, mapped Shikotan and Habomai, and soon Catherine II issued a decree that all the Kuriles up to Japan itself were Russian territory. The European powers took note of this. The opinion of the Japanese at that time did not bother anyone except themselves.

Three islands - the so-called Southern group: Urup, Iturup and Kunashir - as well as the Lesser Kuril Ridge - Shikotan and numerous uninhabited islands next to it, which the Japanese call Habomai - ended up in a gray zone.

The Russians did not build fortifications or station garrisons there, and the Japanese were mainly occupied with the colonization of Hokkaido. Only on February 7, 1855, the first border treaty, the Shimoda Treaty, was signed between Russia and Japan.

According to its terms, the border between Japanese and Russian possessions passed through the Frieze Strait - ironically named after the very Dutch navigator who tried to declare the islands Dutch. Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai went to Japan, Urup and the islands further north to Russia.

In 1875, the entire ridge to Kamchatka itself was handed over to the Japanese in exchange for the southern part of Sakhalin; 30 years later, Japan regained it as a result of the Russo-Japanese War, which Russia lost.

During World War II, Japan was part of the Axis, but hostilities between Soviet Union and the Empire of Japan were not fought for most of the conflict, since the parties signed a non-aggression pact in 1941.

However, on April 6, 1945, the USSR, fulfilling its allied obligations, warned Japan about the denunciation of the pact, and in August declared war on it. Soviet troops occupied all the Kuril Islands, on the territory of which the Yuzhno-Sakhalin region was created.

But in the end, things did not come to a peace treaty between Japan and the USSR. The Cold War began, relations between the former allies heated up. Japan, occupied by American troops, automatically ended up on the side of the Western bloc in the new conflict.

Under the terms of the San Francisco Peace Treaty of 1951, which the Union refused to sign for a number of reasons, Japan confirmed the return of all the Kuriles to the USSR - except for Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir and Khabomai.

Five years later, there seemed to be the prospect of a lasting peace: the USSR and Japan adopted the Moscow Declaration, which ended the state of war. The Soviet leadership then expressed its readiness to give Japan Shikotan and Habomai, on the condition that it withdraw its claims to Iturup and Kunashir.

But in the end, everything fell apart. The United States threatened Japan that if they signed an agreement with the Soviet Union, they would not return the Ryukyu archipelago to it. In 1960, Tokyo and Washington entered into an agreement on mutual cooperation and security guarantees, which contained a provision that the United States had the right to station troops in Japan of any size and - and after that Moscow categorically abandoned the idea of a peace treaty.

If earlier the USSR had the illusion that by concession to Japan it was possible to normalize relations with it, transferring it to the category of at least relatively neutral countries, now the transfer of the islands meant that American military bases would soon appear on them.

As a result, the peace treaty was never concluded - and has not yet been concluded.

Dashing 1990s

Soviet leaders up to Gorbachev did not recognize the existence of a territorial problem in principle. In 1993, already under Yeltsin, the Tokyo Declaration was signed, in which Moscow and Tokyo indicated their intention to resolve the issue of ownership of the South Kuriles. In Russia, this was perceived with considerable concern, in Japan, on the contrary, with enthusiasm.

The northern neighbor was going through hard times, and the most insane projects can be found in the Japanese press of that time - up to the purchase of the islands for a large sum, since the then Russian leadership was ready to make endless concessions to Western partners.

But in the end, both Russian fears and Japanese hopes turned out to be groundless: within a few years, Russia's foreign policy course was adjusted in favor of greater realism, and there was no longer any talk of transferring the Kuriles.

In 2004, the question suddenly surfaced again. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov announced that Moscow, as a state - the successor of the USSR, is ready to resume negotiations on the basis of the Moscow Declaration - that is, to sign a peace treaty and then, as a gesture of goodwill, give Shikotan and Habomai to Japan.

The Japanese did not compromise, and already in 2014, Russia completely returned to Soviet rhetoric, declaring that it had no territorial dispute with Japan.

Moscow's position is completely transparent, understandable and explainable. This is the position of the strong: it is not Russia that is demanding something from Japan - quite the opposite, the Japanese are making claims that they cannot back up either militarily or politically. Accordingly, on the part of Russia, we can only talk about a gesture of good will - and nothing more.

Economic relations with Japan are developing as usual, the islands do not affect them in any way, and the transfer of the islands will not speed them up or slow them down.

At the same time, the transfer of islands may entail a number of consequences, and their magnitude depends on which islands will be transferred.

The sea is closed, the sea is open

“This is a success that Russia has been striving for for many years... In terms of reserves, these territories are a real Ali Baba's cave, access to which opens up huge opportunities and prospects for the Russian economy...
The inclusion of the enclave in the Russian shelf establishes the exclusive rights of Russia to the resources of the subsoil and the seabed of the enclave, including fishing for sessile species, that is, crabs, mollusks, and so on, and also extends Russian jurisdiction over the territory of the enclave in terms of requirements for fishing, safety, environmental protection ".

So minister natural resources and ecology of Russia Sergey Donskoy in 2013 commented on the news that the UN subcommission had decided to recognize the Sea of Okhotsk as an inland sea of Russia.

Until that moment, in the very center of the Sea of Okhotsk, there was an enclave stretching from north to south with an area of 52 thousand square meters. km, for its characteristic shape called the "Peanut Hole" (Peanut Hole).

The fact is that the 200-mile special economic zone of Russia did not reach the very center of the sea - thus, the waters there were considered international and ships of any states could fish in them and mine minerals. After the UN subcommission approved the Russian application, the sea became completely Russian.

This story had many heroes: scientists who proved that the seabed in the Peanut Hole area is the continental shelf, diplomats who managed to defend Russian claims, and others.

What will happen to the status of the Sea of Okhotsk if Russia gives Japan two islands - Shikotan and Habomai? Absolutely nothing. None of them is washed by its waters, therefore, no changes are expected. But if Moscow also gives up Kunashir and Iturup to Tokyo, the situation will not be so clear-cut.

The distance between Kunashir and Sakhalin is less than 400 nautical miles, that is, the special economic zone of Russia completely covers the south of the Sea of Okhotsk. But there are already 500 nautical miles from Sakhalin to Urup: a corridor leading to the Peanut Hole is being formed between the two parts of the economic zone.

It is difficult to predict what consequences this will entail.

At the border, the seiner walks gloomily

A similar situation is developing in the military sphere. Kunashir is separated from Japanese Hokkaido by the Straits of Treason and Kunashir; between Kunashir and Iturup lies the Catherine Strait, between Iturup and Urup - the Friza Strait.

Now the straits of Ekaterina and Friza are under full Russian control, Treason and Kunashirsky are under surveillance. Not a single enemy submarine or ship will be able to enter the Sea of Okhotsk through the islands of the Kuril chain unnoticed, while Russian submarines and ships can safely exit through the deep-water straits of Ekaterina and Friz.

In the event that Japan transfers the two islands to Russian ships, it will be more difficult to use the Catherine Strait; in the event of the transfer of four, Russia will completely lose control over the straits of Treason, Kunashirsky and Ekaterina and will only be able to monitor the Friza strait. Thus, a hole is formed in the system of protection of the Sea of Okhotsk, which cannot be repaired.

The economy of the Kuril Islands is tied primarily to the extraction and processing of fish. There is no economy on Habomai due to the lack of population, on Shikotan, where about 3 thousand people live, there is a fish cannery.

Of course, in the event of the transfer of these islands to Japan, it will be necessary to decide the fate of the people living on them and the enterprises, and this decision will not be easy.

But if Russia gives up Iturup and Kunashir, the consequences will be much greater. Now about 15 thousand people live on these islands, infrastructure is being actively built, in 2014 it international Airport. But most importantly - Iturup is rich in minerals.

There, in particular, is the only economically profitable deposit of rhenium - one of the rarest metals. Before the collapse of the USSR, Russian industry received it from the Kazakh Dzhezkazgan, and the deposit on the Kudryavy volcano is a chance to completely end dependence on rhenium imports.

Thus, if Russia gives Japan Habomai and Shikotan, it will lose part of its territory and suffer relatively small economic losses; if, in addition, it gives up Iturup and Kunashir, it will suffer much more both economically and strategically. But in any case, you can give only when the other side has something to offer in return. Tokyo has nothing to offer yet.

Russia wants peace - but with a strong, peaceful and friendly Japan pursuing an independent foreign policy.

In the current conditions, when experts and politicians are talking louder and louder about the new cold war, the ruthless logic of confrontation comes into play again: by handing over to Japan, which supports anti-Russian sanctions and retains American bases on its territory, Habomai and Shikotan, not to mention Kunashir and Iturup, Russia risks simply losing the islands without receiving anything in return. It is unlikely that Moscow is ready to go for it.

Alexey Lyusin