By YUICHI NOBIRA/ Staff Writer
April 1, 2022 at 15:19 JST
The Northern Territories lie off the eastern coast of Hokkaido. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
Japan will officially describe the Northern Territories as under the “illegal occupation” of Russia, reviving an expression that was dropped after 2003.
The Foreign Ministry’s draft for the Diplomatic Bluebook 2022, which will be submitted to the Cabinet in April, will also describe the four small islands off Hokkaido as “inherent territory” of Japan for the first time since the 2011 edition.
The isles were seized by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World War II.
Japan avoided using such expressions in recent years to promote peace treaty negotiations with Moscow and in hopes that Russian President Vladimir Putin would eventually agree to return all four islands to Japan.
But Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February hardened Japan’s stance.
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida recently said of the peace treaty negotiations, “We are not in a position to say anything about the outlook.”
He also began using “inherent territory” and “illegal occupation” in Diet sessions last month to describe the Northern Territories.
In the draft, the government describes Russia’s invasion as “an outrageous act that shakes the fundamental international order established by humankind over the past century, such as the prohibition of the use of force, the rules of law and the respect for human rights. It can never be tolerated.”
Last year’s bluebook described the Northern Territories as “islands over which Japan possesses sovereignty.”
The bluebook, released by the Foreign Ministry, is a record of Japan’s diplomatic efforts and descriptions of the current international situation.
It normally covers diplomatic events from the previous year, but the draft for the 2022 edition was rewritten considerably after Russia invaded Ukraine.
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