The Kuril Islands Dispute Explained
41.5 هزار بار بازدید -
3 سال پیش
-
The ghosts of the Second
The ghosts of the Second World War loom large in the dispute between Japan and Russia over the Kuril Islands. Marking the gateway to the Pacific Ocean from the Sea of Okhotsk, the Islands symbolise strained relations between the two great powers - so much so that they have not signed an official treaty to mark the Axis defeat in 1945.
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By GeoVane, formerly AR Global Security and Base Rate (Global Guessing, and Crowd Money).
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1. Japanese Surrender in HD Color 1945
2/AP. Yalta Conference
The Kuril Islands are situated in a geostrategically sensitive location for Russia, and their continued possession allows the country year-round unfettered access to the Pacific Ocean - a major strategic imperative for the state. More specifically, this is because the strait between the islands of Kunashir and Iturup does not freeze over during the winter, allowing Russian military vessels from Vladivostok access to the Pacific, and is all the more important given Russia’s lack of year-round ice-free ports, which is integral to its geographic and geostrategic challenges. Were Russia to lose control or relinquish control of the islands, they could be used by an adversary to block access to the pacific ocean - an unacceptable proposition for Russian geostrategists.
The Shimoda Treaty in 1855 was the first official Kuril border demarcation between the two nations, with the four southernmost islands (Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomais) going to Japan. Russia would have sovereignty over the northern islands, and Sakhalin Island would be jointly controlled (Fanning & Tierney, 2021). The 1875 Treaty of St Petersburg meant Japan would relinquish its claim to Russia’s Sakhalin Island in exchange for control over all Kuril Islands (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2001). Thirty years after the Treaty, Russia’s shock defeat in the Russo-Japanese War led them to cede the southern part of Sakhalin Island to Japan. But it is the 1945 Yalta Conference that contributes heavily to Russia’s continued sovereignty over the Kurils - here, the U.S. promised to give the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union should the USSR attack Japan following Germany’s defeat (National Diet Library, 1966).
The 1951 San Francisco Treaty re-established Japan’s relations with the Allies, but the Soviet Union opposed the treaty due to violation of the Yalta agreement. The Allies affirmed this promise, forcing Japan to accept the treaty in which they renounced claims to the Kurils. Whilst Japan has admitted weaknesses in its claim, it clings on to the question of ‘what exactly are the Kuril Islands?’. The state claims it was forced to renounce the Islands in 1951, but also claims that the ‘Kuril Islands’ it renounced did not include the entire archipelago. This view is not without support: in 1949 the US Foreign Service stated there was no definition of the term Kuril Islands, as the Habomais and Shikotan Islands were regarded as an island group distinct from the Kuril archipelago (Office of the Historian, 1949).
The Soviet Union and Japan did sign a Joint Declaration in 1956, ending the state of war from eleven years prior. However, the Kuril Islands dispute resolution was excluded in this in the hope of including the resolution in a formal peace treaty - which has not been signed. Japan accepted the weaknesses of its claim to Etorofu and Kunashiri and agreed to settle for the return of Shikotan and Habomai. But the U.S. blocked this deal, as U.S. diplomacy changed from holding Russia to Yalta agreements to Cold War determination to keep Japan in the Western camp and away from the USSR (Clark, 1992). This Joint Declaration commits Russia to transfer the Habomais and Shikotan, and is Japan’s central cause for dispute.
In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to sign a peace treaty with Japan “without any preconditions” to end WW2 hostilities, but this was viewed with caution by some foreign policy experts (DW News, 2018).
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
By GeoVane, formerly AR Global Security and Base Rate (Global Guessing, and Crowd Money).
Visit our website ➡️ https://www.thirdimage.media/
👍 Support our work here:
Patreon: geovanevideo
🐦 Twitter: Twitter: GeovaneVideo (formerly @GlobalGuessing)
📷 Instagram: Instagram: geovanevideo (formerly @ARGlobalSec)
🎥 TikTok: TikTok: geovanevideo (formerly @ARGlobalSecurity)
📋 LinkedIn: LinkedIn: thirdimagemedia (formerly @GlobalGuessing)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Japanese Surrender in HD Color 1945
2/AP. Yalta Conference
The Kuril Islands are situated in a geostrategically sensitive location for Russia, and their continued possession allows the country year-round unfettered access to the Pacific Ocean - a major strategic imperative for the state. More specifically, this is because the strait between the islands of Kunashir and Iturup does not freeze over during the winter, allowing Russian military vessels from Vladivostok access to the Pacific, and is all the more important given Russia’s lack of year-round ice-free ports, which is integral to its geographic and geostrategic challenges. Were Russia to lose control or relinquish control of the islands, they could be used by an adversary to block access to the pacific ocean - an unacceptable proposition for Russian geostrategists.
The Shimoda Treaty in 1855 was the first official Kuril border demarcation between the two nations, with the four southernmost islands (Etorofu, Kunashiri, Shikotan and Habomais) going to Japan. Russia would have sovereignty over the northern islands, and Sakhalin Island would be jointly controlled (Fanning & Tierney, 2021). The 1875 Treaty of St Petersburg meant Japan would relinquish its claim to Russia’s Sakhalin Island in exchange for control over all Kuril Islands (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, 2001). Thirty years after the Treaty, Russia’s shock defeat in the Russo-Japanese War led them to cede the southern part of Sakhalin Island to Japan. But it is the 1945 Yalta Conference that contributes heavily to Russia’s continued sovereignty over the Kurils - here, the U.S. promised to give the Kuril Islands to the Soviet Union should the USSR attack Japan following Germany’s defeat (National Diet Library, 1966).
The 1951 San Francisco Treaty re-established Japan’s relations with the Allies, but the Soviet Union opposed the treaty due to violation of the Yalta agreement. The Allies affirmed this promise, forcing Japan to accept the treaty in which they renounced claims to the Kurils. Whilst Japan has admitted weaknesses in its claim, it clings on to the question of ‘what exactly are the Kuril Islands?’. The state claims it was forced to renounce the Islands in 1951, but also claims that the ‘Kuril Islands’ it renounced did not include the entire archipelago. This view is not without support: in 1949 the US Foreign Service stated there was no definition of the term Kuril Islands, as the Habomais and Shikotan Islands were regarded as an island group distinct from the Kuril archipelago (Office of the Historian, 1949).
The Soviet Union and Japan did sign a Joint Declaration in 1956, ending the state of war from eleven years prior. However, the Kuril Islands dispute resolution was excluded in this in the hope of including the resolution in a formal peace treaty - which has not been signed. Japan accepted the weaknesses of its claim to Etorofu and Kunashiri and agreed to settle for the return of Shikotan and Habomai. But the U.S. blocked this deal, as U.S. diplomacy changed from holding Russia to Yalta agreements to Cold War determination to keep Japan in the Western camp and away from the USSR (Clark, 1992). This Joint Declaration commits Russia to transfer the Habomais and Shikotan, and is Japan’s central cause for dispute.
In 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to sign a peace treaty with Japan “without any preconditions” to end WW2 hostilities, but this was viewed with caution by some foreign policy experts (DW News, 2018).
3 سال پیش
در تاریخ 1400/05/09 منتشر شده
است.
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