The Location of The Incident
Posted on 08/15/2006 11:14:44 PM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
Russia fires on Japanese boat, one dead
A Japanese fisherman died after a Russian border patrol boat fired on a fishing boat east of Japan's northernmost main island of Hokkaido, Japanese Coast Guard officials said on Wednesday.
Tokyo was likely to protest the "excessive use of force" once the circumstances had been clarified, a government source said.
Fishing disputes are common in the area, and Russian border patrols often try to capture Japanese fishermen. But the last time a Japanese fisherman was shot dead by a Soviet vessel was nearly 50 years ago, in October 1956, Japanese officials said.
"Seizures of Japanese fishing boats by Russia in the waters are not rare, but shooting is very rare," a Japanese Coast Guard official said.
The 4.9-tonne Japanese crab boat with four fishermen on board was in disputed waters between Japan and Russia when a Russian border guard opened fire, another Japanese Coast Guard official said.
"We received a report that the fishing boat was fired on and one of the four fishermen was dead," he said.
This official, citing information from Russian authorities, said the Russian border patrol had seized the Japanese fishing boat before firing.
The Russians then took the Japanese boat and the fishermen to one of four nearby islands claimed by both Russia and Japan, the official said.
The Japanese Coast Guard sent two patrol boats to the scene of the incident to gather information, he said.
The Japanese prime minister's office set up an information task force within its crisis management unit to deal with the incident.
"We are going to investigate what happened, what action the fishing boat was engaged in," the Japanese government source said. "When everything has been made clearer, I think the Japanese government is going to make a protest about the excessive use of force."
Japan and Russia have been locked in a long-running dispute over the islands, known as the Northern Territories in Japan and Southern Kuriles in Russia.
The simmering feud has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from signing a peace treaty more than 60 years after the end of World War Two.
The four islands, as close as 15 km (9 miles) from Hokkaido, were seized by the Soviet Union at the end of the war in 1945, forcing about 17,000 Japanese residents to flee.
Russia has said it is willing to hand over two islands but Japan insists that all four must be returned.
Abe can stoke extra flame out of this to add more momentum for constitutional change.
Maybe Hu Jintao should apologize to Abe Shinzo on behalf of Vlad Putin. /sarc China has most to lose if this kind of thing gets out of control.
Ping!
Considering that Russia owns the islands and Japan gave up all claim to them, Taiwan and some other islands in 1951 ... I'd say Russia is just defending her territory.
My guess is they'll be fighting over them 500 years from now.
L
was it disproportionate?
Kofi Annan already blamed Israel for this.
The Japanese were fishing in somebody else's territory. Again. Good for the Russians. It's about time somebody shot one of those thieves.
If someone pulls up to the US waters and does not pull over for a Coast Guard inspection and then tries to flee .... they are going to get shot at.
And will end up to be Bush's Fault!
Aw...come on Russia...just because so many others are fighting and killing people...don't act as if no one is paying attention to YOU these days. Sheesh.
Wow, a nation that takes its border security seriously. Can we trade Bush for Putin?
Thank you SO much for the belly laugh before bed. ROTFLOL
The people in that area have long memories about WW II. For instance, the Japanese PM just made another pilgimmage to honor WW II Japanese dead at a famous shrine, which caused controversy esp. in China.
It would have worked in the past. However, things are not the same anymore. So-called 'northern islands' is another emotional issue politicians can tap on.
As far as I know, Soviet Union took them because it rings around the entrance to Sea of Okhotsk.
I don't see where that would be any better.
(don't see where it would be any worse, either)
They didn't "take" them. Japan surrendered them in the treaty of San Francisco, in 1951. It is NOT Japanese territory. Then again, I think that the treaty says that those islands are ours. :-)
The sea of Okhotsk is no place to muck around.
That said, the Russkies are protecting something if they took this action
Um... They're protecting their borders... Ahem...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.