|
|
|
|
Moscow hardens towards
Tokyo
By Sergei Blagov
MOSCOW - As Russia has failed to secure
any significant economic commitments from Tokyo,
notably on a Japan-bound Pacific oil pipeline, the
Kremlin has lost all interest in resolving its
long-standing territorial dispute with Tokyo any
time soon. Indeed, Russia has removed Japan from
its Asian diplomacy priority list.
A top
official has bluntly told Tokyo to forget about
the disputed Kuril islands. President Vladimir
Putin's special envoy in the Far East, Konstantin
Pulikovsky, said this month that "Russia does not
have any problem of Kuril islands", meaning it is
happy with the status quo.
The "so-called
territorial dispute" is a sort of publicity
platform for Japanese politicians, Pulikovsky
claimed. "It is absolutely their internal affair,
we have nothing to do with it," he said. In the
meantime, the Kuril Islands will become "a
beautiful corner of prosperous Russia", Pulikovsky
said.
Pulikovsky also said that Russia and
Japan had good relations, particularly in the
economic and tourist spheres, without a peace
treaty. Japan has made the return of the Iturup,
Kunashir, Shikotan and Habomai islands, which it
calls the Northern Territories, a condition of
concluding a peace treaty with Russia. These
islands passed to the Soviet Union after World War
II.
And then on August 10
Pulikovsky approved a blueprint for developing the
Kuril Islands. The document reportedly involves a
number of measures, including creation of a
special economic zone to promote economic
development in the Russian Far East. Businesses in
the zone will receive preferential tax and other
treatment. In other words, Moscow aims to demonstrate
that it will take care of the Kurils on its own.
Other Russian officials have backed plans
to give development of the Kurils a much-needed
boost. On August 11, Russian Defense Minister
Sergei Ivanov suggested to raise funds to develop
the islands. He conceded, however, that the
islands' infrastructure needed serious upgrade.
Ivanov added that more than half of the islands'
current population were Russian military personnel
and their dependents.
The hardening of the
Russian stance follows a softening just last
spring. At that time, Japanese sources floated the
possibility of a compromise over the disputed
islands, arguing that better relations with Moscow
were essential at a time when Japan's relations
with China and South Korea were worsening. There
were rumors of a new approach towards the
territorial dispute: something less than a 50-50
split of the total area, more like 37-63, with the
smaller part going to Japan.
Russian
academics have been exploring compromise
solutions. Vasily Mikheyev, head of the Institute
of Far Eastern Studies of the Russian Academy of
Sciences, suggested a sort of trade-off: Japan
should take two islands instead of the four it
currently claims and sign a peace treaty with
Russia in exchange for Russian support for Japan's
bid for a permanent place at the UN Security
Council.
Energy issues
Just few
months ago, Russia indicated that a major energy
deal with Tokyo was possible. Last December,
Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov approved a
4,130-kilometer crude oil pipeline from Taishet in
eastern Siberia to Nakhodka in the Sea of Japan.
The Kremlin chief of staff, Dmitry Medvedev,
announced in April that plans for the Pacific oil
pipeline were expected to be finalized by May 1.
But a clear Russian pipeline blueprint is yet to
be made public. China had hoped that the pipeline
would be routed from Angarsk to the Chinese city
of Daqing.
Officials say that the
country's pipeline monopoly, Transneft, will not
use Japanese or Russian public funding to build
the Pacific pipeline, citing the company's future
bond issues as a principal source of financing.
This is seen as a trial balloon to test Tokyo's
readiness to finance the pipeline project to the
tune of more than $10 billion. The pipeline is
expected to carry 80 million tonnes of oil a year
when completed in about four years' time.
As Tokyo failed to respond, the Kremlin
requested some clarity. But hints of a possible
off-shoot to China have proved unwelcome in Tokyo,
and Japan made it clear it would not contribute
financially to any Russian pipeline with a branch
to China.
In response, Russia revealed
plans to build a branch of the pipeline to China
first, instead of giving priority to linking the
pipeline to its Pacific coast, as sought by Japan.
Unlike ties with Japan, Russia's
investment cooperation with China has been
booming. Just within the past three months, Russia
and China have signed investment agreements
totaling more than $2 billion. On the other hand,
by the end of 2004 Japanese total direct
investment in Russia amounted to less than $200
million.
As
Moscow becomes more disenchanted with what it
perceives as Tokyo's obduracy, China could replace
Japan as the main beneficiary of a trans-Siberian
oil pipeline.
Sergei
Blagov covers Russia and post-Soviet
states, with special attention to Asia-related
issues. He has contributed to Asia Times Online
since 1996. Between 1983 and 1997, he was based in
Southeast Asia. In 2001 and 2002, Nova Science
Publishers, NY, published two of his books on
Vietnamese history.
(Copyright 2005 Asia Times Online Ltd. All
rights reserved. Please contact us for information
on sales, syndication and republishing.) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
All material on this
website is copyright and may not be republished in any form without written
permission.
© Copyright 1999 - 2005 Asia Times
Online Ltd.
|
|
Head
Office: Rm 202, Hau Fook Mansion, No. 8 Hau Fook St., Kowloon, Hong
Kong
Thailand Bureau:
11/13 Petchkasem Road, Hua Hin, Prachuab Kirikhan, Thailand 77110
|
|
|
|
