On Thursday of last week, Prime Minister Fukuda gave a keynote foreign policy address at the fourteenth annual International Conference on the Future of Asia, hosted by Nikkei in Tokyo.Not for the first time Mr. Fukuda gave me reason to lament his political troubles at home, as he gave a speech that was stunning in …
Tag: Russo-Japanese relations
Stirrings in Heiligendamm
Prime Minister Abe and President Putin met on Thursday evening (Friday morning, Japan time) as planned and discussed what seems like every outstanding issue in Russo-Japanese relations: fishing rights, the Northern Territories, the development of Siberia's energy resources, and a Russo-Japanese peace treaty.Few conclusions, however, were reached, and it seems that there will be no …
Lavrov visits the Northern Territories
Interpret this as you will, but in advance of the Abe-Putin meeting on the sidelines of the G8 summit in Heiligendamm, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is touring the Kuril Islands (Northern Territories), the first visit by a Russian foreign minister since the collapse of the Soviet Union.At a press conference in Sakhalin, Lavrov claimed …
Keep an eye on Russia
In recent days, Russia has announced plans to tighten sanctions on North Korea, with an emphasis on arms, spare parts, and luxury goods — this is the first concrete step Russia has taken in regard to sanctions since the aftermath of the October nuclear test.While Russia has its own reasons to be irritated with North …
Asia’s shifting balance
The past week has brought a host of stories pointing to how the balance of power — both globally and in Asia — is shifting, suggesting that the assumptions made by each major regional power will have to change accordingly.First, Taiwan's place as the most likely cause of war between China and the US (with …
Putin meets Hu
I feel like the title of this post could be the beginning of a corny geopolitics-themed Abbot and Costello parody.But seriously, the Japanese media seems to be keeping a close eye on the meeting in Moscow between Presidents Hu and Putin. This Mainichi article, for example, calls attention to the two countries agreeing to strengthen …
Tobias S. Harris 