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Japan slams Russia for laying cables to disputed island
TOKYO, June 11, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Japanese officials criticised Russia on
Monday for its plans to lay fibre-optic cables to islands disputed by Tokyo
and Moscow, calling the construction work “deplorable” and “without legal
basis.”
Ties between Japan and Russia have been strained for decades over the four
islands, which were occupied by the Soviet Union in the closing days of World
War II but are claimed by Tokyo.
They are known in Japan as the Northern Territories and in Russia as the
Southern Kurils.
“It is extremely deplorable that such a project is being carried out under
the Russian occupation that has no legal basis,” government spokesman
Yoshihide Suga told reporters
The Japanese Sankei Shimbun newspaper reported over the weekend that
Russia plans to lay the cables between the disputed islands and Russia’s
Pacific island of Sakhalin.
The newspaper said Moscow had notified Tokyo of the project, which will be
implemented by Chinese company Huawei Technologies.
“We’ve lodged protests via diplomatic routes with Russia and China,” Suga
said, adding that Japan “will patiently negotiate with Russia.”
The dispute over the islands has prevented the two countries from signing
a peace treaty to formally end wartime hostilities.
A visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to Russia last month yielded
no movement on the issue.
Strategically, control of the islands ensures Russia has year-round access
to the Pacific Ocean for its Pacific Fleet of warships and submarines based
in Vladivostok, through a strait that does not freeze over in winter.
BSS/AFP/MR/ 1102 hrs