[Jedi Master Pikachu]

Russia should give Japan back the four Japanese Kurils and the southern part of Sakhalin.

[keithtoo]

A $630 million project doesn't even merit a sideways glance in D.C. (sigh).

[Zakeet]

The Russian's grabbed this territory from the Japanese in the last days of WW II. Truman felt the US was too war weary, and Truman himself was too new on the job, to make the Commies give it back.

Some historians think Russia's land grab was more of a determining factor in causing the Japanese to surrender than the atom bombs. The Tokyo firestorms were worse; people are expendable; but land lost to the Soviets is a precious resource lost for centuries

[Iris7]

Sakhalin Island is in the middle of a multi-billion dollar oil and gas fields development project. Most of the wells are offshore. The Japanese are mad that the Russians have it instead of them. End of story.

Well, no, not the end of the story. The whole continental shelf in that area is probably lousy with fossil hydrocarbons. Very definitely including the Kuril Islands.

Give it back to Japan? Less than a snowball's chance in Hell.

A Businessweek "executive overview".

This is a description of Phase II, not yet started.

[Vigilanteman]

Actually, they should give them back ALL of the Kurile Islands (Chishima reito in Japanese) and the southern half of Sakhalin (Karafuto in Japanese).

Japan gave up her claims to Karafuto in the 1870's in return for Russia giving up all claims to the Kuriles. Russia then tried to renege on the agreement, leading to the Russo-Japanese War where Russia got spanked bad and was forced to return the southern half of Karafuto.

During World War II, Russia had a non-agression/recognition of territorial integrety pact with Japan, an agreement which the Japanese never violated.

Russia has no right to keep any territories seized in the waning days of a war (after the atomic bomb) in which they entered in violation of a treaty.

To take it a step further, North Korea's very existence and China's communist regime owes their founding to Russia's violation of this treaty.

So if we are really going to set things right, the govenment in Taiwan has the right to rule in Beijing and the government in Seoul has the right to rule in Pyongyang.

[spanalot]

"In Soviet times, Russia's vast border was controlled by the KGB, but that power was transferred to federal border guards in 1991.

In 2003, President Vladimir Putin handed control back to the FSB, which succeeded the KGB."


Sounds like communism to me