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SINO-JAPANESE DISPUTE: SENKAKU OR DIAOYUMO?

Sun, 28 Jan 2024 04:12:00 +0300

A. A. KIREEVA MGIMO (U) of the Russian Foreign Ministry Japan Keywords:, China, territorial dispute, Senkaku/Diaoyu A serious escalation of the Senkaku/Diaoyu conflict occurred in the early 2010s. Most of the incidents were related to the frequent entry of Chinese patrol vessels into the territorial waters and flights of aircraft into the airspace of these disputed islands. A harbinger of heightened tensions came on June 10, 2008, when a 270-ton Taiwanese fishing boat collided with a Japanese patrol boat. All 16 crew members were flown to Taiwan, and the Japanese government said the Taiwanese ship's crew resisted screening. Taiwan and Japanese officials once again exchanged statements about sovereignty over the Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands.1 After the release of videos and photos taken by Taiwanese fishermen that showed that a Japanese Coast Guard ship deliberately crashed into a Taiwanese vessel, a Japanese official in Taipei apologized to the captain, and the Japanese government paid 10.5 million new Taiwanese dollars ($312.5 thousand) in damages.2 The incident seemed to end there. But this was only the beginning of the upcoming "sea battle" involving patrol vessels. TOUGH STANCE AND TOUGH REACTION On September 7, 2010, a Chinese fishing trawler collided with two Japanese Coast Guard patrol ships 15 km off Senkaku / Diaoyu 3. The trawler was apprehended, and the Chinese captain and crew were arrested on charges of resisting arrest. So Tokyo showed a toughening of its position: previously detained sailors or activists were simply deported, as was the case with Taiwanese fishermen in 2008. The Minister of Public Lands, Infrastructure and Transport of Japan, S. Maehara, said that the collision occurred in Japanese territorial waters, which means that Chinese sailors will be tried in accordance with Japanese law4. Tokyo initially did not attach much importance to the incident. This is not the first time that an official diplomatic protest of the PRC has been presented to th ... Read more

"THE YASUKUNI SHRINE CHALLENGE": TO BE CONTINUED

Wed, 08 Nov 2023 00:51:00 +0300

E. V. MOLODYAKOVA Doctor of Historical Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences Keywords: Yasukuni Shrine, shinto, revival of militarism, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe The issue of the" deification " of war criminals at the Yasukuni Jinja Shrine has now become particularly acute in Japan's relations with neighboring countries, which suffered greatly from Japanese troops during World War II. In many ways, the present-day" Yasukuni Shrine problem " has become political in nature, becoming a kind of bargaining chip in a big diplomatic game. The formal reason for the claims of neighboring countries to Japan is the "deification" of war criminals in the sanctuary, which supposedly means the rehabilitation of war crimes. In Japanese society itself, there is an opinion that Yasukuni imposes his own vision and interpretation of the country's history, as evidenced, in particular, by the Yusukan War Memorial Museum under his jurisdiction. IN SEARCH OF YOUR OWN STORY All the post-war years in the country, discussions on the problems of national history and its interpretation have not subsided. Japan, in the context of high economic growth, was rapidly approaching the level of highly developed countries. In addition, the Japan-US security treaty was successfully revised towards a greater partnership. In this regard, it is quite natural to increase interest in understanding one's own history (especially since the centenary of the "Meiji restoration" was widely celebrated in 1968), traditional spiritual values, problems of ethnic psychology, and issues of cultural identity. At present, national history has become one of the most important forms of national consciousness and national identity, and therefore the problems of its interpretation and perception are of purely practical interest. The issue of teaching national history in secondary schools and the development of textbooks are constantly in the focus of attention of politicians and soci ... Read more

FRAGMENTS OF THE HISTORY OF RUSSIAN-JAPANESE RELATIONS IN DOCUMENTS AND INDIVIDUALS

Fri, 03 Nov 2023 22:14:00 +0300

The publishing house of the Far Eastern Federal University published the book by N. G. Miz (edited by T. I. Breslavets. Vladivostok, 2013, 156 p.). This book is dedicated to the history of Russian Primorye. Special attention is paid to the city of Vladivostok, which has become a kind of contact zone for people of different professional aspirations and spiritual beliefs. At the same time, the content range of the book is much wider and goes beyond research focused on local history issues. N. Miz ' work shows one of the most striking, poorly studied, but multifaceted aspects of various relations between Vladivostok and Japan. At the same time, the book reconstructs the events of the historical and cultural past of the Russian and foreign parts of the Far East. The book uses interesting documents (memoirs, newspaper and magazine publications, archival materials, as well as a tab with color illustrations by Russian artists, rare photographic images, etc.) covering the activities of famous people in the Russian Far East and Japan. The preface to the book notes that "in the history of Japan and Primorye, there are many Russian writers, poets, artists, artists, researchers, and sailors who have clearly shown themselves in culture, art, and science" (p.6). Indeed, some of these people " lived, studied, served, or worked in Vladivostok; others were <...> short trip to japan. But in all cases, thanks to them, people of science, art and culture, the threads of communication between the Russian mainland Vladivostok and the island of Japan stretched. It still exists today, helping the two peoples to better understand each other and live in peace and harmony" (p.6). One of the places in the plot narrative is devoted to the events of the Russo-Japanese war and its resonance, which was reflected in the fate of the Russian intelligentsia, military, scientists, representatives of the arts and clergy. The book's heroes include writers (poet Arseny Nesmely, writers B. A. Pilnyak ... Read more

THE CONSTITUTION OF JAPAN: IS THE REVIEW MECHANISM RUNNING?

Fri, 27 Oct 2023 16:43:00 +0300

E. V. MOLODYAKOVA Doctor of Historical Sciences Deputy Director of the Institute of Historical Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences Keywords: Japan, revision of the 1947 Constitution, 9th" peace " article, revival of militarism, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe The problem of revising the Japanese Constitution of 1947, which is still in force without a single amendment, has always existed in society. However, since the beginning of the 2000s, discussions about the nature of the revision of the Basic Law have become increasingly tense and are accompanied by concrete actions that help translate them into practice. According to some parameters, the Constitution no longer fully corresponds to modern realities. Moreover, there was a need to introduce new provisions in this document, for example, the so-called new human rights: "the right to a favorable ecological environment"," the right to information","the right to privacy". This need is directly related to major changes in the domestic political situation and attitudes in Japanese society, as well as global and regional changes in the world. HISTORY OF THE CONSTITUTION OF 1947 The peculiarity and even exclusivity of the Japanese Constitution is that its draft was prepared in the office of the American Headquarters of the occupation forces under the command of General D. MacArthur on the basis of his brief written recommendations, including the provision on renouncing war as a sovereign right of the nation. The task execution schedule was extremely strict: on February 3, 1946, the following tasks were given: page 10 So, on February 10, the project was ready, on the 12th it was approved by the general, and on February 13 it was handed over to representatives of the Japanese government. While drafting the constitution, the occupation authorities did not try to forcibly implant Western stereotypes of the social structure in Japan. According to S. Yoshida, who served as Foreign Minister, they listened to the suggestions an ... Read more

NO LAW (INTERNATIONAL), NO COMMON SENSE

Tue, 15 Aug 2023 17:16:00 +0300

territorial claims Japan, Keywords:, Southern Kuril Islands, Taiwan, Diaoyu (Senkaku) E. M. RUSAKOV Candidate of Historical Sciences The Japanese government's announcement in November 2009 of some "illegal Russian occupation" of the Southern Kuril Islands highlighted Tokyo's ongoing sluggish territorial mania. This year 2010 marks the 65th anniversary of the end of World War II and more than half a century after the signing of the Soviet-Japanese Joint Declaration of December 12, 1956, according to which the USSR and Japan ended the state of war, restored peace and good-neighborly relations, diplomatic and consular relations, and agreed to continue negotiations on the conclusion of a peace treaty. 1. But with a tenacity worthy of a better use, Tokyo has taken a hard-nosed stance all these years, seeking the South Kuril Islands, called the" northern territories " of Japan-Kunashir, Iturup, Shikotan, and the South Kuril (Lesser Kuril) Ridge (Habomai). Official Japan does not abandon attempts to rewrite the territories of other neighbors in its favor. And this applies not only to the Korean Dokdo Islands, which are discussed in the article by V. A. Grinyuk, but also to the small uninhabited Diaoyu Islands (Japanese name - Senkaku), which the Chinese consider their own, and even Taiwan, whose status, from the point of view of Tokyo, remains uncertain. COOKIE IN YOUR POCKET "10 theses of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan" concerning fr. Dokdo is a textbook example of the method of exhausting, blurting out and piling up facts used by Japanese diplomacy to justify territorial claims to its neighbors. With truly Jesuitical thoroughness, every fact, every incident that is interpreted by the Japanese side in favor of their claims is analyzed without a statute of limitations. All sorts of loopholes, reservations, references to Old Testament documents, and one-sided interpretations of facts and documents are used. I would like to draw your attention to one "detail". Amon ... Read more

RUSSIA AND JAPAN: IS A COMPROMISE ON THE KURIL ISLANDS POSSIBLE?

Sun, 23 Jul 2023 20:31:00 +0300

A. KOSHKIN Doctor of Historical Sciences, expert at the Center for Strategic Research Held in July 2008 on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido in a picturesque area near Lake Toyako, the next meeting of the leaders of the world's leading powers was devoted to global problems of climate change, the worsening situation in the field of energy and food, and increasing assistance to African countries. However, even at the preparatory stage, the attention of the Russian mass media and the public was drawn to the attempts of the Japanese right-wing forces to use the summit to create a stir around the so-called "problem of the northern territories", as this country calls the claims to the islands of the southern part of the Kuril Ridge that are part of the Russian state. These attempts were illegitimate, because the G8 meeting in Hokkaido was by no means a Japanese, but an international forum, for which Tokyo, in accordance with the order of priority, only provided its territory. The undisguised desire to "internationalize" territorial claims against Russia, the publication of maps and booklets that violate the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Russia for distribution at the summit, and the calls of right-wing media to almost include the "territorial issue" in the agenda of the G8 meetings were unfriendly, frankly, provocative, which caused a legitimate reaction from the Russian authorities. The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation was instructed to state: "The Russian Foreign Ministry drew attention to the attempts of the Japanese side, which began a few weeks ago, using the G8 summit in Hokkaido, to draw additional attention of the international community to the Japanese-Russian territorial issues. Moreover, in the relevant publications, this problem is presented in a biased one-sided interpretation... The principled position of the Russian Federation is that the southern Kuril Islands became part of our country ... Read more

DEMOCRACY, LIBERALISM AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Sat, 05 Nov 2022 22:39:00 +0300

Natalia NAROCHNITSKAYA President, Foundation for Historical Outlook Chairman, State Duma Commission for studies of practical observance of human rights and basic freedoms, supervision over their observance in foreign states Ph. D. (History) I need some other, better rights, I need a better kind of freedom Alexander Pushkin On 27 May, 2005, the RF State Duma almost unanimously approved establishment of a new parliamentary structure, a parliamentary "Commission for studies of practical observance of human rights and basic freedoms, supervision over their observance in foreign states". Creation of this high-status body possessing certain institutional and financial capacities has long been overdue, in view of the absolutely obvious need to protect the violated rights of Russian-speaking people in the Baltics and other parts of historical Russia. стр. 5 At the same time, the Commission, using parliamentary contacts and instruments, will be able to generalize and systemize the positive legislative and law enforcement experience of other countries, study formation of the very criteria of success and failures in the field of human rights protection within the concrete historical and socio-cultural context. This is going to help analyze the character and reasons for the unsatisfactory situation with human rights observance in some regions of Russia. Time has come to study, using a serious juridical and sociological base, to what extent Russian imperfections stem from the flaws of lawmaking or law enforcement, i. e. to what extent they are related to the domain of legal consciousness, political and general culture. We also need some analytical, generalization activities in this field. Abroad, there have long existed hundreds of standing and ad hoc commissions, human rights NGOs, exclusively engaged in analysis of the human rights situation in other countries, submitting their reports and expert estimates to government agencies and international organizatio ... Read more

ЭТАПЫ ФОРМИРОВАНИЯ СОЦИАЛЬНОГО ГОСУДАРСТВА ФРГ

Mon, 11 Jan 2021 12:56:00 +0300

Впервые понятие "социальное государство" было использовано прусским общественным мыслителем Л. фон Штайном1 в середине XIX в., наиболее широкое распространение этот термин получил лишь после того, как в 1949 г. в Конституцию ФРГ было включено выражение "sozialer Rechtsstaat", которое дословно переводится как "социальное правовое государство". Как показывает исторический анализ, сроки, скорость и приоритетность введения тех или иных социальных пособий достаточно различаются, что предопределяется не только экономическими, но и социально-политическими факторами, такими как политические идеалы правящей верхушки, доминирующие настроения в обществе, осознание остроты социальных проблем. Исторический опыт свидетельствует, что переход от авторитарного государства к социальному является одной из закономерностей развития человеческого общества. Современное немецкое общество на данном этапе едино в понимании того, что хотя необходимости демонтирования существующей системы социального государства можно и нужно избежать, есть существенные причины говорить о важности проведения реформ в социальной политике, которые должны базироваться на историческом переосмыслении опыта создания социального государства ФРГ. Именно поэтому тема исторического развития социального государства актуальна. "Федеративная республика Германия - это демократическое и социальное федеративное государство", так говорится в ст. 20 Основного закона, - "конституционный порядок в федеральных землях должен соответствовать основным положениям республиканского, демократического и социального правового государства в понимании Основного закона"2 (ст. 28). Прилагательного "социальный" в отношении государственного устройства послевоенной Германии не содержалось в проектах Основного закона, хотя это был исходный пункт развития немецкого государства. Дискуссии о понятии социального государства особенно активно велись в немецком обществе в начале 1950-х годов. Установились две точки зрения на пробле ... Read more

EFROYMSON CL. W. DOCUMENTS. AN AUSTRIAN DIPLOMAT IN AMERICA

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 15:49:00 +0300

EFROYMSON, CL. W. Documents. An Austrian Diplomat in America, 1840. "The American Historical Review". 1936. N3, April. V. XLI, pp. 503 - 514. ЭФРОИМСОН. Документы. Австрийский дипломат в Америке, 1840. Автор публикует с кратким вводным текстом и комментарием три донесения секретаря австрийского посольства в Вашингтоне Гюльземана своему послу. Гюльземан, дипломат школы Меттерниха, прослуживший на разных дипломатических должностях в США с 1838 г. до 60-х годов, не чуждый науке, совершил осенью 1840 г. поездку по США и Канаде и описал свои впечатления. Донесения его касаются главным образом экономического положения мест (сельское хозяйство, пути сообщения), положения германских эмигрантов, некоторых местных нравов и обычаев и социально-политических моментов (отношение штатов к Великобритании, государственный строй, негритянский вопрос). Автор на основании ряда цитируемых материалов дает сжатую характеристику Гюльземана, отмечая его враждебное отношение как европейского дипломата старой школы к американской демократии.

MONROE ELISABETH. THE MEDITERRANEAN IN POLICY

Mon, 04 Dec 2017 15:09:00 +0300

MONROE ELISABETH. The Mediterranean in Policy. London-Oxford University Press. 1939. X + 259 p. МОНРО Е. Значение Средиземного моря в международной политике. Книга написана сотрудницей Института внешних сношений в Лондоне, объехавшей в 1937 - 1938 гг. по поручению рокфеллеровской организации побережье Средиземного моря. Постулировав, что в настоящее время четыре державы: Англия, Франция, Италия, Турция - достаточно сильны, чтобы "диктовать свою политику" в Средиземноморском бассейне, автор последовательно разбирает интересы каждой из этих держав, кратко останавливаясь также на роли и Месте Испании ("европейский больной") среди этих держав, и дает краткие, общие соображения. Первая глава посвящена характеристике британских интересов в Средиземном море - политических, стратегических и экономических. Заслуживает внимания изложение двух точек зрения английского правящего класса: одной - за установление морского пути вокруг мыса Доброй надежды ("Cape School") ввиду ненадежности во всех отношениях средиземноморского пути, и другой - за средиземноморский коммуникационный путь в связи с тем, что оставление его повлекло бы за собой ослабление общей позиции империи. Наличие двух таких взглядов весьма показательно. Муссолини, как указывает автор, сочувствует первой точке зрения. Анализируя проблему Средиземного моря как пути британского экспорта и импорта, автор приводит ряд характерных цифр: 9 - 14% всего британского импорта проходит через Суэцкий канал. Самой крупной стр. 130 статьей этой части британского импорта является иракская нефть, занимающая 18% в общем импорте нефти в Англию. Однако в случае затруднения иракская нефть может быть заменена нефтью из США или из Венесуэлы, Тринидада, Вест-Индии, которые составляют 35% британского нефтяного импорта. Труднее заменим бенгальский джут, равно как и олово и каучук из Индии. Если учесть еще египетский хлопок, румынскую нефть, плоды из Палестины и Испании, вывозимые из сре ... Read more