Japan hopes to preserve visa-free exchanges with SKuriles

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23/3 Tass 100

TOKYO, March 23 (Itar-Tass) - The Japanese government would like to
preserve the present forms and conditions for visa-free exchanges with the
South Kuriles.
It would regard, for instance, as burdensome paying changes for calls
to ports of the above islands, says an official written reply, approved by
the government on Tuesday, to an inquiery by chairman of the foreign
ministry commission of the lower chamber Muneo Suzuki.
The cabinet document notes that the Russian government has not
directly requested Tokyo on paying charges. However, Japan believes that
this question is under consideration. "We hope that contacts with the four
islands will be continued in the previous form," says the government reply
on this point.
The South Kuriles will receive 26 Japanese delegations with a total
number of 1,153 people under a visa-fee exchange in 2010. Several groups
will welcome Japan from the islands. They will include 310 residents of
the Kunashir, Iturup and Shikotan islands. This understanding was reached
at bilateral consultations in Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk early in March.
The visa-free exchange between the South Kuriles and Japan started in
1992 in compliance with an intergovernmental agreement. More than 15,000
people have participated in these contacts over the past years.
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