Foreign Correspondence

[Amaunet]

The United States is pushing for Russia and Japan to resolve their differences. Russia and Japan are still fighting World War II as the two countries remain technically at war, with Russia refusing Japan's demand to return four small islands in the Far East seized in the final days of World War II.
#msg-2153017

China's rise in the region has left many nations somewhat nervous. Japan sees in China tremendous potential for further economic cooperation. Nevertheless, China could develop into an economic rival for Japan. Russia's Far East is thinly populated, and there are fears that a Chinese economic penetration of the region will turn into a flood of Chinese citizens. The economic resurgence of the Russian Far East, which Japan and the United States can both help to accomplish, is a key to Russia's security in the region. This is not to suggest that Japan, Russia and the United States will need to contain China. Instead, a cooperative triangle can be used to assuage fears about China's rapid development.

Hence we find the following release:


Japan hopes to speed up peace treaty talks with Russia


Tuesday, March 23, 2004 at 06:00 JST
TOKYO — Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi on Monday told Russian Ambassador to Japan Alexander Losyukov that Japan hopes to accelerate negotiations on concluding a peace treaty with Russia, a Japanese official said.
Losyukov invited Kawaguchi to visit Russia to expand bilateral ties further, the official said. Kawaguchi said she will make efforts to achieve progress on the peace treaty negotiations and other areas in line with an action plan signed by Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin last year. (Kyodo News)
http://www.japantoday.com/e/?content=news&cat=9&id=292370