ID :
56473
Mon, 04/20/2009 - 22:02
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/56473
The shortlink copeid
Gov't official reprimanded for reported remarks on territorial issue
+
TOKYO, April 20 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone on Monday reprimanded former Vice Foreign
Minister Shotaro Yachi for his reported remarks regarding the disputed islands
claimed by both Japan and Russia.
Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka told reporters that Nakasone issued a
verbal warning to Yachi, who called for the return of ''3.5'' of the
Russian-controlled four islands off Hokkaido rather than the reversion of all
of them in a recent interview with the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
According to Yabunaka, Nakasone made a telephone call earlier in the day to
Yachi, who currently is a government envoy on key diplomatic issues and is
staying in the United States, and asked for an explanation about the interview
published in the daily's Friday morning edition.
Yachi told Nakasone during their telephone conversation that he did not
actually say that the return of ''three and a half'' is acceptable but that
there might have been some remarks in the interview that caused
misunderstanding, according to Yabunaka.
Yachi also said it is deplorable that he brought about misunderstanding among
people concerned, Yabunaka told reporters.
Tokyo has been calling for control of all four islands -- Kunashiri, Etorofu,
Shikotan and the Habomai islet group -- known in Japan as the Northern
Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils. The territorial row has kept
the two countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty.
In the interview, Yachi indicated it would be enough for Japan if the country
regains control of Shikotan, Kunashiri and the Habomai islets plus half of
Etorofu, which provides the largest share of the total acreage of the four
islands.
Yabunaka said the Foreign Ministry would not impose any further punishment on
Yachi over the matter.
Yabunaka, meanwhile, emphasized that the government will stick to its
longstanding policy of not concluding a peace treaty with Russia unless Japan's
sovereignty of the four islands is confirmed.
''It's a serious problem if misunderstanding has been created (by Yachi), and
negotiations on territorial issues should be proceeded prudently in light of
national interest,'' Yabunaka said.
==Kyodo
TOKYO, April 20 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone on Monday reprimanded former Vice Foreign
Minister Shotaro Yachi for his reported remarks regarding the disputed islands
claimed by both Japan and Russia.
Vice Foreign Minister Mitoji Yabunaka told reporters that Nakasone issued a
verbal warning to Yachi, who called for the return of ''3.5'' of the
Russian-controlled four islands off Hokkaido rather than the reversion of all
of them in a recent interview with the Mainichi Shimbun newspaper.
According to Yabunaka, Nakasone made a telephone call earlier in the day to
Yachi, who currently is a government envoy on key diplomatic issues and is
staying in the United States, and asked for an explanation about the interview
published in the daily's Friday morning edition.
Yachi told Nakasone during their telephone conversation that he did not
actually say that the return of ''three and a half'' is acceptable but that
there might have been some remarks in the interview that caused
misunderstanding, according to Yabunaka.
Yachi also said it is deplorable that he brought about misunderstanding among
people concerned, Yabunaka told reporters.
Tokyo has been calling for control of all four islands -- Kunashiri, Etorofu,
Shikotan and the Habomai islet group -- known in Japan as the Northern
Territories and in Russia as the Southern Kurils. The territorial row has kept
the two countries from signing a post-World War II peace treaty.
In the interview, Yachi indicated it would be enough for Japan if the country
regains control of Shikotan, Kunashiri and the Habomai islets plus half of
Etorofu, which provides the largest share of the total acreage of the four
islands.
Yabunaka said the Foreign Ministry would not impose any further punishment on
Yachi over the matter.
Yabunaka, meanwhile, emphasized that the government will stick to its
longstanding policy of not concluding a peace treaty with Russia unless Japan's
sovereignty of the four islands is confirmed.
''It's a serious problem if misunderstanding has been created (by Yachi), and
negotiations on territorial issues should be proceeded prudently in light of
national interest,'' Yabunaka said.
==Kyodo
