When Will Russia Give Kuriles Back to Japan?

[jbg]

After WW II the Russians occupied the formerly Japanese Kurile Islands, imported settlers, and exiled their Japanese inhabitants. Sound familiar?

Where are the U.N. commissions? The security counsel resolutions? The demands for countless investigations? Where's NaomiGlover, Dub, and Bud? Link, excerpts below:

With Visit, Russia Reinforces Its Custody of Islands, Angering Japan

By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW — President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday visited one of the southern Kurile Islands, which the Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II, making it clear that Russia had no plans to cede the mineral-rich territory despite Japanese demands.

Mr. Medvedev is the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the disputed Kuriles, part of an archipelago that stretches from the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia to Hokkaido in the northernmost part of Japan. The four southernmost islands, called the Northern Territories by Japan, are home to only around 20,000 people, but grant access to prize fisheries and promising oil and gas fields.

****************

Soviet forces occupied the southern islands in 1945, deporting their Japanese inhabitants and bringing in settlers. In the 1956 declaration that re-established ties between Russia and Japan, Russia offered to return two of the islands as part of a peace treaty. But Japan rejected that compromise, maintaining that all the islands should be returned, and the issue has never been resolved.

********

Oh, and where's Barack Obama's pressure for a "negotiated solution"?

Oh where?

Edited November 3, 2010 by jbg

[DogOnPorch]

Yes...well we know it isn't likely to happen nor will the planet cry over it. Germany lost the heartland of Prussian/Pomeranian culture to the Poles...doubt they'll be seeing that anytime soon, either.

[Bonam]

I'm still waiting for Istanbul to be returned to Rome myself.

[DogOnPorch]

I'm still waiting for Istanbul to be returned to Rome myself.

Right after those darn Normans give Great Britain back to the Saxons.

[Bonam]

Right after those darn Normans give Great Britain back to the Saxons.

Maybe we should just give all of Europe back to the Neanderthals? They were there first after all. Oh wait all the Neanderthals are extinct. Sucks to be them I guess.

[DogOnPorch]

Maybe we should just give all of Europe back to the Neanderthals? They were there first after all. Oh wait all the Neanderthals are extinct. Sucks to be them I guess.

I assume this thread is meant to reflect on the Arab-Israeli conflict and how dumb it is to give too much lee-way to those that start wars and then promptly lose.

Arabs: We want a do-over!

World: Sucks to be you. STFU.

But we don't in their case...

[wyly]

After WW II the Russians occupied the formerly Japanese Kurile Islands, imported settlers, and exiled their Japanese inhabitants. Sound familiar?

Where are the U.N. commissions? The security counsel resolutions? The demands for countless investigations? Where's NaomiGlover, Dub, and Bud? Link, excerpts below:

With Visit, Russia Reinforces Its Custody of Islands, Angering Japan

By ELLEN BARRY

MOSCOW — President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday visited one of the southern Kurile Islands, which the Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II, making it clear that Russia had no plans to cede the mineral-rich territory despite Japanese demands.

Mr. Medvedev is the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the disputed Kuriles, part of an archipelago that stretches from the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula in eastern Russia to Hokkaido in the northernmost part of Japan. The four southernmost islands, called the Northern Territories by Japan, are home to only around 20,000 people, but grant access to prize fisheries and promising oil and gas fields.

****************

Soviet forces occupied the southern islands in 1945, deporting their Japanese inhabitants and bringing in settlers. In the 1956 declaration that re-established ties between Russia and Japan, Russia offered to return two of the islands as part of a peace treaty. But Japan rejected that compromise, maintaining that all the islands should be returned, and the issue has never been resolved.

********

Oh, and where's Barack Obama's pressure for a "negotiated solution"?

Oh where?

when will the USA give back Hawaii, Puerto Rico, US Virgin Islands, Guam, Guacamole Bay...apparently the precedent was set lands annexed by force are okay to keep...

then going further back we could consider the annexation of the entire SW USA from Mexico...

[ToadBrother]

Right after those darn Normans give Great Britain back to the Saxons.

And the Anglo-Saxons can turn around and give it back to the Celts.

[M.Dancer]

And the Anglo-Saxons can turn around and give it back to the Celts.

And the celts can turn around and give it to the Bronze age culture that was there before them...

[ToadBrother]

Oh, and where's Barack Obama's pressure for a "negotiated solution"?

Oh where?

The Japs lost the war. They should feel lucky that the US had the balls to drop a couple of H bombs to send the signal to Stalin "Japan is ours". The Kurils would be the least of Japan's problems if the Soviets had marched into Tokyo.

[jbg]

The Japs lost the war. They should feel lucky that the US had the balls to drop a couple of H bombs to send the signal to Stalin "Japan is ours". The Kurils would be the least of Japan's problems if the Soviets had marched into Tokyo.

Correct. And the resident West Bankers should realize that the Israelis are the least of their problems as well.

[Peter F]

The Japs lost the war. They should feel lucky that the US had the balls to drop a couple of H bombs to send the signal to Stalin "Japan is ours". The Kurils would be the least of Japan's problems if the Soviets had marched into Tokyo.

Back to phantom communist invasion fleets are we?

[wyly]

Correct. And the resident West Bankers should realize that the Israelis are the least of their problems as well.

...ya as their land is stolen from under them piece by piece and they're herded into ever smaller bantulands, oh ya those benevolent israeli's...

[jbg]

...ya as their land is stolen from under them piece by piece and they're herded into ever smaller bantulands, oh ya those benevolent israeli's...

How come Japan didn't confine their refugees from the Kurile Islands to squalid camps? How come the suicide bombers attacking Moscow are Chechen, not Japanese?

[eyeball]

How come Canada isn't planning on taking someone's land away from them. Surely there must be someone weaker than us, I mean who's to say otherwise and more to the point would they even bother to?

[jbg]

How come Canada isn't planning on taking someone's land away from them. Surely there must be someone weaker than us, I mean who's to say otherwise and more to the point would they even bother to?

How come people of your ideology don't condemn Russian or Chinese expansionism. When will China free Tibet?

[bud]

apples and oranges.

this comparison is another sad example in how far you will go in trying to legitimize israel's land theft and their violation of international law.

you are so sad.

there have been several treaties in regards to the kuriles, with the most recent being the the treaty of san francisco.

The Treaty of San Francisco was officially signed by 49 nations, including Japan and the United States, on September 8, 1951. Article (2c) states: "Japan renounces all right, title and claim to the Kurile Islands

link

1956 Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration and dispute over the composition of the Kuril islands

During the 1956 peace talks between Japan and the Soviet Union, the Soviet side proposed to settle the dispute by returning Shikotan and Habomai to Japan. In the final round of the talks the Japanese side accepted the weakness of its claim to Etorofu and Kunashiri and agreed to settle for return of Shikotan and the Habomais, in exchange for a peace treaty. However, the Americans intervened and blocked the deal.The United States warning to Japan that a withdrawal of the Japanese claim on the other islands would mean the United States would keep Okinawa caused Japan to refuse these terms.

while in the middle east, israel's borders were clearly defined in 1967 and there is no dispute (except from israel, the perpetrator) that israel is violating international law by annexing palestinian land.

the icing on the cake for this pathetic thread and argument was toadbrother's comment:

They should feel lucky that the US had the balls to drop a couple of H bombs to send the signal to Stalin "Japan is ours".

who the f is this pathetic little warm?

Edited November 5, 2010 by bud

[bjre]

How come people of your ideology don't condemn Russian or Chinese expansionism. When will China free Tibet?

You from Japan? if you are, you just have half blood from Chinese 2000 years ago when Chinese go to those Islands to teach your ancestors how to plant, how to do craft, and everything. there was no civilization before Chinese teach your nation. And more than 1000 years or so ago another group of Chinese go to your country to help you selflessness. Even your language are full of Chinese. Over thousands years Chinese go to any place do business and help others living better life, unlike your Japaneses kill others and do robbery wherever you go for many hundreds of years from pirates to army. Free Tibet? So that you can do robbery? Nothing is more evil than such idea.

Edited November 5, 2010 by bjre

[jbg]

while in the middle east, israel's borders were clearly defined in 1967 and there is no dispute (except from israel, the perpetrator) that israel is violating international law by annexing palestinian land.

If they were so "clearly defined" why did Nasser boot the U.N. peacekeeping force and mass troops on th border.

the icing on the cake for this pathetic thread and argument was toadbrother's comment:

They should feel lucky that the US had the balls to drop a couple of H bombs to send the signal to Stalin "Japan is ours".

who the f is this pathetic little warm?

A good poster who educates people on the board quite well and uses respectful language. We rarely agree but we always disagree in an respectful manner.

There are few that understand the Canadian constitution better than him, at least on this Board.

[eyeball]

How come people of your ideology don't condemn Russian or Chinese expansionism. When will China free Tibet?

WTF are you talking about? I've been condemning the government's of rogues and super-rogues of any and all stripes for years around here.

[eyeball]

A good poster who educates people on the board quite well and uses respectful language. We rarely agree but we always disagree in an respectful manner.

With all due respect I'd have to say I disagree with that.

There are few that understand the Canadian constitution better than him, at least on this Board.

I have little argument with this except to say so what? The fact you have to eat, breathe and shit the constitution on a daily basis for years to ever get your head around it should be a big problem.

People shouldn't need to be the equivalent of a lawyer or a professor to understand the document that governs how they're governed.

[KeyStone]

How come people of your ideology don't condemn Russian or Chinese expansionism. When will China free Tibet?

So, basically you're suggesting that the situation between Japan and Russia is exactly the same as Israel and Palestine - and the only reason people bring up Israel so much is because they are anti-semites? Is that about right?

[TimG]

The Japs lost the war. They should feel lucky that the US had the balls to drop a couple of H bombs to send the signal to Stalin "Japan is ours". The Kurils would be the least of Japan's problems if the Soviets had marched into Tokyo.

It makes sense for Japan to make a fuss about this because it will undermine China's attempt to grab the Sentaku islands. The status quo may not be "fair" in a historial context but it is a lot safer to simply live with it.

[dre]

Man... this whole line of reasoning is just stupid.

Even Israel is not claiming that the west bank is their sovereign territory. So reaching back in history and bringing up these useless examples is an intellectually dishonest escersize in uselessness and futility.

[dre]

Yes...well we know it isn't likely to happen nor will the planet cry over it. Germany lost the heartland of Prussian/Pomeranian culture to the Poles...doubt they'll be seeing that anytime soon, either.