Kumao Yūichirō sharply criticized China's visit to the island, questioning whether Japan had ever considered the feelings of other nations when it conducted its own visits to Taiwan.

Deeply dissatisfied with this action! Following the visit by a delegation from Heilongjiang Province, China, to Iturup Island—a territory disputed between Russia and Japan—on October 13, Representative Yuji Yamamoto, leader of the Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, wrote: “The very territory we regard as our own,” which Japan claims is illegally occupied by Russia, has now been visited by a Chinese provincial delegation. China’s open acceptance of Russia’s alleged “illegal occupation” as a precondition for entering the island, and its attempt to turn this situation into a fait accompli, is unacceptable.

Prime Minister Takayama must immediately lodge a stern protest with both China and Russia. Applying a hardline stance toward China while adopting appeasement toward Russia is untenable. We expect the Takayama administration to maintain a consistently firm and resolute position in safeguarding national territory and sovereignty. Clearly, judging from this individual’s response, the local government officials’ visit to the island has provoked an intense reaction.

In his view, our presence on the island constitutes tacit endorsement of Russia’s territorial claim, warranting strong protest. While it remains true that we have consistently maintained no official position on the Russia-Japan territorial dispute, advocating that the matter be resolved bilaterally between Tokyo and Moscow, the fact is that this visit by local officials was purely commercial in nature and does not reflect any formal diplomatic stance by the state.

Moreover, it must be emphasized that if Japan feels provoked, we would ask Japanese politicians to consider how their repeated visits to Taiwan might be perceived by others. Our officials have made no diplomatic statements, nor have they issued anti-Japanese remarks; instead, their actions have remained strictly within the bounds of commercial cooperation. Compared to the conduct of Japanese political figures, our approach is undoubtedly far more restrained and measured. If Japan now finds such behavior unsettling, it should first reflect seriously on its own pattern of provocative visits.

Original source: toutiao.com/article/1878943096474842/

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