How to immigrate to the four northern islands

The Russian-Ukrainian war is still going on, but some countries have been unable to hold back and want to take advantage of the fire to rob. Japan is one of them. The conflict between Russia and Ukraine has nothing to do with Japan, but Japan not only follows the West in imposing sanctions on Russia, but also prohibits the export of high-tech products to Russia. It also sent a very strong voice to the "four northern islands", saying that this is Japan's "inherent territory" and Russia's "illegal occupation", and they will definitely take it back.

Japan used Russia's inferior skills in Ukraine to provoke the issue of the four northern islands again. The so-called four northern islands are the South Kuril Islands called by the Soviet Union or Russia, which is "sad" for Japan. For more than 70 years, Japan and Russia have been at loggerheads over this island. Although the island is actually controlled by Russia, Japan has never given up its claim and sovereignty.

Interestingly, the Russian side proposed to return two of the four northern islands to Japan, but it was rejected. What happened? Why did Japan reject the island it had been obsessed with?

I. Four northern islands

Let's first learn about the so-called four northern islands, which, as the name implies, are composed of four islands: Houguo, Youhuo, Tooth Dance and Sedan. The geographical location is extremely critical, and it is one of the few remaining navigation channels in Russia that can completely enter and leave the sea freely.

/kloc-at the end of 0/8th century, the Tokugawa shogunate in Japan began to send officials to manage the four northern islands, and the Ainu people on the islands began to be assimilated. However, while Japan began to operate the four northern islands, Russia also turned its attention to this treasure house, where fishing boats docked and carried out hydrological operations on the islands.

From then on, Japan and Russia began to compete for the island. 1792 and 1804, Russia also sent people to Japan twice to seek to establish trade relations, but Japan at that time always pursued the policy of locking up the country and was rejected twice by Japan.

After being rejected, the Russians attacked Songqian Tax Office in Kuchungudan, sakhalin island at 1806. The relationship between the two countries was once very tense and even came to the brink of war. Because the four northern islands are strategically located, their position is very important, which is to hold the throat of the mainland leading to the Pacific Ocean, so the competition between Japan and Russia for the four northern islands is becoming more and more fierce.

The Russo-Japanese War broke out in 1904, mainly because of Russia's expansion in the Pacific, and was resisted by Japan after the Meiji Restoration. More than a year later, Russia lost the war. In order to avoid the collapse of Russia, after careful consideration, Tsar Nicholas II decided to make peace with Japan and cede part of the South Kuril Islands.

Japan immediately carried out a large number of immigrants to these islands, and the Japanese know very well that changing the population structure on the islands will actually form the basis of sovereignty. At the same time, Japan is building a naval base here. It is worth mentioning that when Isoroku Yamamoto led a large-scale joint fleet to attack Pearl Harbor, it started from the four northern islands, which ensured the concealment and suddenness of the raid and caught the US Pacific fleet off guard.

The defeat of the Russo-Japanese War and the cession of the South Kuril Islands have always been regarded as a great shame for Russia. 1945, after World War II, Japan was defeated and surrendered, and all the Soviet islands and territories it occupied were returned to the Soviet Union. The Soviet Union further incorporated Tooth Dance Island and Cho Catching Island into the national territory, which naturally aroused the dissatisfaction of the Japanese. However, under the deterrent of the powerful military power of the Soviet Union, Japan, as a defeated country, can only stare blankly.

Second, the Soviet Union proposed a return.

In the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union sized up the situation and thought about making some concessions to return part of the four northern islands to Japan, but Japan refused because the Soviet Union gave an unacceptable reason to Japan. What is the reason put forward by the Soviet Union?

After World War II, Japan became a vassal of the United States and rose rapidly with the help of the United States. With the sudden change of the international situation, Japan is also trying to restore normal diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, but Japan's ruling and opposition parties have the same demand for establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, that is, demanding that the Soviet Union unconditionally return the four northern islands. Due to the changes in the international situation, the Soviet Union also carefully considered this appeal and thought that it could be returned to the four northern islands.

1956 65438+1On October 27th, Japan and the Soviet Union held talks in London, aiming at how to return the four northern islands and break the ice for the normalization of diplomatic relations.

After the negotiations began, the Soviet Union became more sincere. First of all, they said that it is not a problem to return the four northern islands claimed by Japan, but everything needs to be done step by step, especially on such a major event involving the sovereignty of the two countries. We can negotiate to return some islands first and then conclude a peace agreement.

According to the Soviet plan, they intend to return Sedan Island and Tooth Dance Island first. For Japan, it is naturally a pleasure to get the island back. But the Soviet Union immediately put forward another condition, which was hard for the Japanese to accept.

Three. Conditions and rejections

At the negotiation table of "normalization of diplomatic relations" between Japan and the Soviet Union in June 1955, Junichi Matsumoto, the representative of Japan, produced a lot of historical materials to prove that the sovereignty of the island belonged to Japan. Not to be outdone, Malik, the representative of the Soviet Union, produced a bunch of textual research by the Soviet Academy of Social Sciences, which proved that the Soviet Union had "indisputable sovereignty" over the island.

But then the Soviet Union changed its attitude and was willing to make appropriate concessions on the issues of Tooth Dance Island and Sedan Island. Khrushchev's concession was mainly due to the fact that the two islands were close to Hokkaido, and the disadvantages of taking possession of them outweighed the advantages. However, Khrushchev also had his own attitude. He believes that the reason why he did not give up the choice of catching the island and the island after the country was due to national prestige and strategic considerations.

It should be said that Khrushchev was sincere. On the other hand, the conditions put forward by the Soviet Union are that all American troops stationed in Japan will be withdrawn and the United States will return the Okinawa base to Japan. For this condition put forward by the Soviet Union, Japan rejected it without thinking. Why do you say that? Because Japan couldn't do it at that time.

The Soviet Union believes that since Soviet troops cannot be stationed in Japan, troops from other countries are not allowed to be stationed in Japan, which is conducive to maintaining the balance in Northeast Asia. But for Japan, this condition is unacceptable.

First of all, Japan needs the protection of the US military. Once all American troops leave, it is difficult to predict what will happen. In addition, Japan simply cannot ask the United States to withdraw its troops. Japan wanted America at that time. Moreover, Japanese people's thinking is unique, and all problems should be solved together. For example, after the four islands were all returned at one time and rejected by the Soviet Union, the Japanese side believed that the Soviet Union was not sincere enough. In the end, Japan missed this historical opportunity and left the problem until now, and it is very likely that it will never come back in the future.