JCP Ogata calls for negotiations based on reason to deal with Chishima question

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JCP Ogata calls for negotiations based on reason to deal with Chishima question

Japanese Communist Party Vice Chair Ogata Yasuo attended a national rally calling for the return of the Russian-held "Northern Territories" that was held under the auspices of the Cabinet Office on February 7 in Tokyo.

Ogata stressed in his speech the importance of "public opinion, social movements, and diplomatic negotiations showing reason based on international laws" in order for the historically legitimate demand for the return to be met. He said that the JCP will make all-out efforts to achieve this.

Concerning the root cause of the Chishima question, Ogata pointed out that in violation of the principle of "territorial non-expansion" in post-war disposition, the former Soviet Union demanded that the Chishima Islands be turned over, that the United States and Britain agreed to the Soviet Union demand in the Yalta Agreement, and that the Japanese government declared the renunciation of the right of claim for the Chishima Islands in the San Francisco Peace Treaty.

Ogata went on to say that the Habomai and Shikotan islands were historically part of Hokkaido and, thus, they should be returned without waiting for the conclusion of a peace treaty with Russia. He added that the whole of the Chishima Islands were peacefully confirmed to be Japan's territory by the 1875 Sakhalin-Chishima Exchange Treaty.

He emphasized the need to negotiate showing reasonable grounds based on international laws without being bound by the erroneous post-war settlement.
- Akahata, February 8, 2007