Northern Territories

--The Asahi Shimbun, Oct. 12010/10/02
EDITORIAL: Northern Territories
北方領土―訪問は不毛な対立深める

As if to take advantage of Japan's confrontation with China over sovereignty of the Senkaku Islands, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has said he intends to visit the Northern Territories soon.
　尖閣諸島の領有をめぐって中国との緊張が高まる日本外交の足元を、見透かしたようなロシアの動きだ。
　メドベージェフ大統領が「北方領土を近く必ず訪問する」と表明した。

Unlike the situation in the Senkaku Islands dispute, Tokyo and Moscow agreed in the 1993 Tokyo Declaration and other official documents to aim at settling the Northern Territories issue through negotiation. This is why successive Russian leaders have avoided making a visit.
　尖閣と違って北方領土は、１９９３年の東京宣言をはじめとする公式文書で、両国政府が交渉で解決を目指すと確認している。だからこそロシアの歴代指導者も、訪問を避けてきた。

Russia has recently been emphasizing its claim that, as a result of World War II, ownership of the Northern Territories was transferred to the Soviet Union. The latest move is apparently aimed at highlighting Russia's effective control over the islands and undermining the position of Japan, which regards them as an integral part of the country. But such high-handed methods will render negotiations futile.
　今回の動きには、「第２次世界大戦の結果、帰属が我々に移った」との主張を強めるロシアが実効支配の現状を強調し、四島を固有の領土とする日本の立場を揺るがす狙いがうかがえる。だが、強引なやりかたは交渉を不毛なものにするだけである。

It was natural for Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara to convey Japan's apprehension to the Russian side, saying the visit could seriously undermine Japan-Russia relations. Japan should continue to strongly urge Russia to avoid the visit.
　「日ロ関係に重大な支障が生じる」と前原誠司外相が、ロシア側に懸念を伝えたのは当然だ。引き続き、強く訪問中止を働きかけるべきだ。

The Russian side has recently moved toward a more hard-line approach to territorial problems. First, it conducted a military exercise this summer with 1,500 troops on Etorofu Island, which is part of the Northern Territories.
　このところ、ロシア側には領土問題で強硬な動きが目立つ。まず夏には、北方領土の択捉島で兵士１５００人が軍事演習をした。

It has also designated Sept. 2, the date on which Japan signed the instrument of surrender to the Allied Forces in 1945, the memorial day of the end of World War II. Most recently, Medvedev issued a joint statement with his Chinese counterpart, Hu Jintao, emphasizing their commitment to territorial integrity during a visit to China earlier this week.
　さらに日本が連合国への降伏文書に署名した９月２日を「第２次大戦終結記念日」に制定した。続いて今週、中国を訪問していた大統領が胡錦濤国家主席と、領土保全の原則的立場を保持するとの共同声明を出した。

In effect, the two countries were applying pressure on Japan by confirming the legitimacy of their respective claims to the Senkaku Islands and the Northern Territories.
尖閣や北方領土で主張の正当性を確認しあって日本に圧力をかけるような内容だ。

Russia may have become impatient with Japan, seeing that Tokyo's stance on the territorial problem had remained unchanged after the change of government from the Liberal Democratic Party to the Democratic Party of Japan. But we do not believe these moves will serve Russia's long-term interests.
　日本の政権が自民党から民主党に代わっても、領土問題で立場が変わらないのに業をにやしたのかもしれない。しかし、こうした動きがロシアの長期的な利益にかなうとは思えない。

The Russian economy, which relies heavily on oil, natural gas and other resources, suffered a serious blow in the global financial crisis that hit two years ago. For this reason, the Russian administration is pursuing a policy of building good relations with Europe, the United States and Japan, with the aim of modernizing its economy by attracting technology and investment from these countries.
　石油や天然ガスなどの資源に大きく依存するロシアの経済は、２年前の金融危機で大きな打撃を受けた。このためロシア政権は、経済の「現代化」を目指し、技術や投資の受け入れ先としての欧米や日本と良好な関係を築く政策に乗り出していた。

Russia is also trying to strengthen cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region to support development in Siberia and the Far East, which are lagging behind other regions. That is why it plans to take part in the East Asia Summit and will host the summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in 2012 in Vladivostok in the Russian Far East.
　またロシアは、開発の遅れたシベリアや極東地区の底上げのために、アジア・太平洋諸国との協力強化に努めている。今後は東アジアサミットに参加し、２０１２年に極東のウラジオストクでアジア太平洋経済協力会議の首脳会議を主催するのもそのためだ。

In these circumstances, the Russian side should think hard about how much it could lose if it continues to be at loggerheads with Japan over territorial claims, at a time when it should instead be cooperating with Japan in the region.
　それなのに、地域で積極的に協力しあうべき日本と領土問題でもめ続ける損失の大きさを、ロシア側はよく考えるべきだ。

The DPJ administration also faces some urgent decisions.
　民主党政権にも課題がある。

Former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama proposed the concept of an East Asian community. But he stepped down without showing how to position Japan-Russia relations within that framework. Prime Minister Naoto Kan has met with Medvedev only briefly on one occasion. Meanwhile, Chinese and Russian leaders have met as often as five times since the beginning of this year.
　鳩山由紀夫前首相は、東アジア共同体構想を唱えたが、その中で日ロ関係をどう位置づけるかを示す間もなく退陣した。菅直人首相も、メドベージェフ大統領との会談は顔合わせ程度の一度きりだ。中ロの首脳会談は今年だけで５度を数える。

Japan needs to rebuild its East Asia policy and must address how it intends to deal with Russia.
　ロシアを含む日本の東アジア政策の立て直しが必要である。