A combination of ongoing Russian naval activity in the Pacific and a recent Sino-Russian defense meeting has proven too much for Tokyo to stomach.
On Monday, April 17th, Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno protested military exercises planned by Moscow around disputed islands near Japan’s northern island of Hokkaido.
The missile exercises, which Moscow informed Tokyo—a regional partner of the NATO military alliance—about in advance, are to take place between April 18th and 22nd.
Later that day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov defended the exercises, since these were “in strict accordance with international law.”
Japan’s territorial dispute with Moscow over the Kuril islands harkens back to the end of World War II when they proved a stumbling block in the negotiation of a peace treaty. Following the war, all Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. Japan, however, continued to take issue, challenging their ownership.
In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan finally signed a joint declaration, putting a stop to hostilities. Yet, while the two countries resumed diplomatic relations, no formal peace treaty has actually been signed.
During former prime minister Shinzo Abe’s tenure, Tokyo opted not to use the term “illegal occupation” when referring to the Kuril Islands. This changed last year. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, over which Japan joined the West in sanctioning Russia, the Japanese Foreign Ministry once again began using the term.
Russia’s planned exercises on the territorially contested waters are however not the main driver of the latest diplomatic spat.
Last Friday, April 14th, a surprise inspection of Russia’s Pacific Fleet was announced, so that its combat readiness could be tested. On Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin received a progress report from Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu on all exercises conducted thus far.
During their in-person meeting, Shoigu said “more than 25,000 troops, 167 warships and logistics vessels” were involved, “including 12 submarines, as well as 89 planes and helicopters.” These, he said, had conducted “firing drills and engaged in tactical exercises involving various kinds of forces.”
Putin responded that while the priorities for Russia’s Armed Forces were “quite clear,” primarily focusing “on the Ukrainian track and everything related to protecting people in Donbas [the primarily Russian-speaking region to the country’s east, which Russia last year annexed following a referendum] and in other new territories,” the development of the navy, “including on the Pacific theater of operations remains relevant.”
Russia’s naval drills coincided with a visit to Moscow by Chinese Defence Minister Li Shangfu, who met with Putin on Orthodox Easter Sunday.
Li, who last month became defense minister, was welcomed at the Kremlin by both Putin and his Russian counterpart, Sergei Shoigu. Li’s visit to Russia, which lasts until Tuesday, is his first foreign trip as minister.
Upon Li’s arrival, Putin stressed that while Russia and China had “maintained positive momentum” in expanding their “economic, social, cultural and educational ties,” they had also been “proactive” in their “military-to-military relations,” citing the joint military exercises they had held in “various theaters of operation, including in the Far East, Europe, at sea, on land, as well as in the air.”
Li in turn agreed, saying that “as of late, military and military-technical cooperation between Russia and China is developing very well,” which was making a “major contribution to maintaining global and regional security.”
“We have a very strong relationship that goes beyond the Cold War-era military and political alliances,” he went on, describing their relationship as one which “hinges on the principles of non-alignment and non-confrontation with third parties,” and which had “already entered a new era.”
Under their “no limits” partnership, both nations have drawn closer together economically, politically, and militarily since the advent of the war in Ukraine.
Last month’s visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Moscow served to underscore that relationship, signaling to the world its solidity as well as import.
While Beijing staunchly denies claims that its ties with Moscow have progressed to the point of furnishing military equipment for use in Ukraine, Kyiv is adamant they have.
On Friday, April 14th, a senior Kyiv official claimed that Ukrainian forces are finding a growing number of components of Chinese origin in Russian weapons on the battlefield.
Kyiv’s backers, NATO and Washington, however, maintain they have seen no signs yet that Beijing is actively supplying arms to Moscow.
