Tokyo, Nov. 1: Russia’s President visited an island in the Pacific Ocean claimed by both Russia and Japan on Monday, triggering immediate protests from Tokyo, which is already involved in a heated dispute with China over islands to the south.
The President, Mr Dmitry Medvedev, landed on Kunashiri Island, just off Japan’s northern coast. Known in Russian as Kunashir, it is part of a group of four islands claimed by both countries that Japan calls the
Northern Territories and Russia calls the southern Kurils.
Mr Medvedev is the first Russian president to visit the island.
Japan’s foreign ministry issued a statement soon after Mr Medvedev’s arrival that it opposed the visit, and would take appropriate measures. It called in Russia’s ambassador in Tokyo to protest.
“We have never changed our position that the Northern Territories are a part of our territory and the visit is very regrettable,” the Prime Minister, Mr Naoto Kan, told a session of Parliament on Monday.
Part of a larger chain of Russian-held islands, the disputed islands are surrounded by rich fishing waters and are believed to have promising offshore oil and natural gas reserves, plus gold and silver deposits.