Russia is ready to sell the Kurile Islands to Japan

On the eve of the new round of negotiations on the Kurile Islands ownership, the Japanese are conducting wild propagandist campaign in the Russian-language Internet.
Recently the following information appeared on the animation website, “Don’t mix the Northern and Central Kuriles and another group of the islands – the Southern Kuriles. The Northern Kuriles were a part of Russian Empire until 1847, and then they were given to Japan, but the Southern Kuriles have always been owned only by one state – Japan. The four islands of the Southern Kuriles are the sticking point of Russian-Japanese relations (Shikotan, Kunashir, Iturup and Khabomai range), until 1947 the islands were always owned by Japan. By the way, the Japanese Naval base from where the Japanese squadron went to bomb Pearl Harbor, was located in Iturup island”. 

Meanwhile, Russian political elite seems to be inclined to sell the Kuriles “in exchange of peace”. According to Gazeta.ru, “Head of State Duma Committee on International Relations Dmitry Rogozin estimated the Kureles at $2.5 trillion”.

According to the Institute of Fishery located in Kamchatka region, warm flow Kurosio and cold flow Oyasio bring enormous quantity of biomass to the Southern Kuriles. This biomass in the form of fish was taken by Russian fishing boat from all the regions of the Far East.  This fish helped Communists to avoid regime collapse much earlier than in 1991. There was no threat of famine when tins of the Kuriles fish were in stock of all Russian food-stores. And the source of fish created by the sea flows, is eternal. And it would be stupid to kill the hen laying gold eggs.

The negotiantions on the destiny of this “hen” started in 1991. At that time, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevarnadze gave the shelf of the Bering Sea to Americans.  Salmon migrates along the shelf to Eastern Kamchatka. If Japanese put several kilometers of nets in the Southern Kuriles, Kamchatka will have no fish. In addition, if Russia gives up the Southern Kuriles, the Okhotsk Sea will gain the status of international sea, and foreigners will claim its rich fish resources as well.

By the way, the Kuriles were not always owned by Japan. Several years before the Russo-Japanese war, Russians exchanged them to the half of Sakhalin island. Today the islands are important because this are is rich of oil.

Meanwhile, in the neighboring Khabarovsk region, Damansky island and the Tumannaya river were given away to China…
Today the Chinese are going to construct super-port Tumangan near the border between Russia and North Korea. The port is going to surpass Rusian seaports Vladivostok and Nakhodka in the Pacific. Allowing foreign Navy and in Okhotsk Sea will mean having foreign military presence in your own territory.

Surprisingly, we are fighting in Chechnya where there are no Russians left, and oil reserves have been exhausted, but the big areas rich of oil and fish can be given away for nothing…

Valery Davydov