By Chen Yu, assistant researcher, Department of Russian studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations

On May 6, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid a quick and unofficial visit to Russia, and held a three-hour discussion with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Abe became the first Japanese leader to visit Russia in the past few years, which implies that Russia-Japan ties have recovered over the Ukrainian crisis. As an informal ice-breaking visit, no documents were signed, but they still held in-depth exchange of views on issues of common concerns.  

Abe called for economic and trade cooperation that covers the fields of oil and gas exploration, constructions of ports, airports and other infrastructure in the Far East; agricultural cooperation and arable lands development in the Far East; health and science and technology cooperation. 

Both sides agreed to investigate on the feasibility of huge-investment projects, as well as to make use of the Intergovernmental Committee on Economic Cooperation to welcome more private companies to participate. 

Moscow has invited Abe to attend the Eastern Economic Forum to be held in the Far East of Russia this September. The issue of territorial rights is another focus of concern for Moscow and Tokyo. Abe said Tokyo has proposed a new solution on the four disputed northern islands. 

The Russian President's press secretary, Dmity Peskov claimed that both sides have held constructive discussions on the Kuriles in Russia and Northern Territories in Japan. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the two sides are considering talks of signing a peace treaty.

Another consultation at the level of deputy foreign ministers will be held in June. Both sides will resume a "2 + 2 "ministerial talks mechanism on bilateral defense and foreign ministries. After the Cold War, Moscow and Tokyo have continued on with alienated but stable relations. 

Moscow has recently engaged in ice-breaking relationships with Western countries, offering good opportunities for Tokyo and Moscow to abandon the political barrier of Ukraine crisis. Both sides have shown a willingness to improve ties.

Russian-Japanese cooperation could boost development with economic and trade fields as a priority. Tokyo owns fast economic development, advance technology, strong financial background with lack of resources and poor lands. Russian industry and technology need dramatic upgrades. 

Russia holds rich resources and fertile lands. The two nations complement each other providing great potential for enhanced economic and trade cooperation. Due to poor political relations, Russian-Japanese trade and economic cooperation has stagnated.  Japanese direct foreign investment in Russia is less than 1% of all Japanese overseas investment.

In 2015, Russian-Japanese trade volume had plunged to $US21.3 billion, falling more than 30%. Moscow and Tokyo will seize the direct talks between the top-leaders to stimulate trade and economic cooperation and reinforce relations. However, Russian-Japanese ties have been negatively impacted by several factors, which would be difficult to overcome in a short time-frame. The dispute over territories is hard to resolve. Due to fundamental differences, Moscow and Tokyo has not signed a peace treaty.

Tokyo has considered the four northern islands as Japan's inherent territory, and believes that Russia has occupied them illegally. Tokyo requests Moscow to return the territories before signing a peace treaty.

Moscow believes its occupation of the Kuriles Islands (four northern islands named by Tokyo) had originated from the end of the World War II with Tokyo abandoning its sovereignty. 

The Soviet Union and Russia had agreed to return two smaller islands of Habomai, Shikotan on the basis of signing a peace treaty. But Tokyo refused to accept the proposal. 

During Japanese Prime Minister’s Hashimoto Ryutaro’s reign in 1998, Tokyo had proposed to Moscow to return two smaller islands of Habomai, Shikotan as a beginning step after signing a peace treaty, and assume management rights on the two larger islands of Etorofu and Ostrov Kunashir for the following 30-50 years afterwards.

He believes Tokyo would make important concessions, if the above terms were agreed upon. There exist no proof for a stable solution on the territorial issue, so future prospects remain uncertain.

Moreover, Moscow has constructed new facilities on the South Kuriles Islands, making it an important stronghold in the Asia Pacific. Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev had visited Japan as Russian President in 2010, Prime Minister in 2012 and 2015. 

Moscow has engaged in building a military city on the islands to strengthen its deployment and to take the control of the four islands. The initiatives have made the territorial issue more complex, with the possibility of a complete solution appears to be intractable in the short term.

A lack of mutual trust between continues to exist. Since modern times, Moscow and Tokyo have endured the Japan-Russia War, Soviet-Russia War interfered by imperialist states and World War II.  

In the Cold War, both sides had fought against each other. There have been less united times and more fighting times, in their long history of deep-rooted mistrust between the two nations. In terms of the economy and trade, after disintegration of the Soviet Union, Tokyo has had much enthusiasm for investing in Russia, but Moscow’s poor investment environment and local government bureaucracies had posed a number of difficulties for Japanese companies. 

Even if there exist a strong willingness for greater economic and trade cooperation, Japanese companies will have some doubts.  Washington is another stumbling block to stronger Russia-Japan relations. During the Cold War, Tokyo was a pawn for Washington to contain the Soviet Union, and that continues on to this day. 

As long as the US-Japan alliance stands firm, Moscow’s national security in the Asia-Pacific region would be threatened. Washington is determined to make it hard for Russia and Japan to deepen bilateral relations.

Chen Yu 

( The opinions expressed here do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Panview or CCTV.com. )

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