By The Straits Times | Created at 2026-10-14 07:35:39 | Updated at 2026-10-16 08:48:00
2 days ago
TOKYO – Japan protested a rare visit by an official Chinese delegation to an island controlled by Moscow but claimed by Tokyo, the latest indication of a growing alignment between Russia and China to pressure the government of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi.
Earlier in October, officials and business leaders from China’s north-eastern Heilongjiang province surveyed tourism and aquaculture projects on Iturup in the Kuril island chain, according to local Russian authorities.
The island is called Etorofu in Japan and is among a group of four claimed by Japan and known as the Northern Territories.
“We believe it is completely unacceptable for government officials, business representatives or others from third countries to enter and conduct activities on the Northern Territories in a manner that treats them as though they were Russian territory,” Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi said in Parliament on Oct 14.
“On the 13th, we conveyed Japan’s position to both Russia and China through diplomatic channels and strongly urged them to respond appropriately,” he said in an answer to a question from an opposition lawmaker about the development.
The island of Etorofu has become a focus of mounting tension between Tokyo and Moscow after Russian President Vladimir Putin made his first visit to the territory in August.
Soon after, Takaichi called the visit “unacceptable”.
Russia has also notified Japan of plans to conduct military exercises on the island from Oct 13 to Oct 17, according to the Sankei newspaper.
China’s apparent support for Russia’s development of the disputed island comes as Beijing wages its own campaign to try and isolate Takaichi following remarks she made in late 2025 that suggested Japan could play a role in any collective effort to defend Taiwan from a Chinese invasion.
Among other indications of coordination, Russia and China have engaged in joint military exercises around Japan.
Russia, meanwhile, has been angered by Japan’s backing for Ukraine, including the provision of financial and non-lethal military support.
On a recent visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Takaichi held her first summit meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
And on Oct 2, Tokyo announced new sanctions on Russia, citing “the situation involving Ukraine.”
In a fresh development, Russian authorities said on Oct 13 they’d detained a Japanese journalist in the far eastern Sakhalin region on suspicion of collecting and storing information related to Russia’s defensive capabilities.
Motegi said Tokyo was seeking details of the detention and called for fair and impartial treatment of the journalist.
A dispute over control of the Northern Territories has prevented Moscow and Tokyo from signing a formal World War II peace treaty with Russia.
The islands were seized by the Soviet Union from Japan at the end of the war. BLOOMBERG
