The New Year brought new challenges and opportunities to Russian policy in East Asia. On January 3, 2016, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe signaled Japan’s continuing interest in a summit with Russia to normalize bilateral relations (TASS, January 4), even though both sides had given up on this quest only weeks before, not least because Moscow made clear it would make no concessions on the Russian-occupied Kurile Islands (Japanese Northern Territories) (see EDM, November 20, 2015). Five days after the Japanese prime minister’s declaration, the deputy head of Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party, Masahiko Komura, announced he is coming to …read more
Source: The Jamestown Foundation