As the "vanguard" planted by the United States in Asia, in addition to rushing to the front line against China, Japan is also particularly "active" in provoking Russia.
[Japan Announces Additional Sanctions Against Russia]
According to Kyodo News, on December 15, Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced a further strengthening of sanctions against Russia, which can be roughly divided into three parts:
The first is economic sanctions, which Japan has included 63 organizations related to the Russian military, including 57 Russian entities, into the scope of the export ban, and this series of sanctions will be officially implemented on December 22. In addition to the previously sanctioned entities, 494 Russian entities and 27 Belarusian entities have been added to Japan's sanctions list.
It is worth mentioning that the United States and other Western countries had previously intended to use Russia's frozen funds as part of the "aid to Ukraine", and in the current situation of Zelensky "begging" everywhere, the Japanese side has increased the scope of freezing Russia's funds, which cannot be ruled out in order to further draw closer to the West in the future and prepare for increasing aid to Ukraine.
The second is diplomatic isolation, in addition to Russian companies, six other countries have been implicated in the sanctions list added by the Japanese side, including two UAE entities and two Uzbek entities.
After the conflict in Ukraine, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and other countries have repeatedly imposed sanctions on entities in many countries under the banner of "suspected funding of the Russian army", with the intention of isolating Russia internationally. However, Putin's previous visits to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates broke the West's "isolated chess game" against Russia, and in this case, the Japanese side expanded the scope of sanctions, obviously trying to assist the West in implementing the "isolation" policy against Russia to the end.
[Putin's visit to Saudi Arabia]
Third, Japan has also announced that it will ban the import of Russian diamonds from next year. Previously, at the G7 online summit, it was announced that it would strengthen sanctions and "indirect imports" against Russian diamonds, and Japan's move was a positive response to the G7.
As the world's largest diamond producer, diamond exports are obviously one of the pillars of Russia's economy, and Japan's inclusion in the scope of sanctions means that the West's encirclement and pressure on Russia has been further intensified.
In response to Japan's sanctions, the Russian side is unequivocal in its counterattack. On the day that Japan's sanctions were announced, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev, who was also Putin's plenipotentiary in the Far East, who was on a visit to China, announced the good news -- Russia would invite China to step up the development of the Kuril Islands.
The Kuril Islands, long disputed territory between Japan and Russia, are located north of Hokkaido, Japan, and were assigned to the Soviet Union after the end of World War II, and with the collapse of the Soviet Union, the islands were inherited and effectively controlled by Russia. Japan believes that the occupation of these islands by the Soviet Union and even Russia is "illegal", so it has been demanding that Russia return them, and the Kishida government has also publicly stated that the "four northern islands" (that is, the Kuril Islands as the Russian side calls them) are Japan's "inherent territory", and Japan has "indisputable legitimate sovereignty" over these islands and the surrounding waters.
[Significant progress has been made in negotiations with Japan during the Abe period]
It is worth mentioning that Japan and Russia had previously launched peace treaty negotiations on the ownership of the territory, and during the Shinzo Abe period, Japan did not have the other side to condemn and sanction under pressure from the United States in the Crimea incident, and the two countries have made significant progress in peace negotiations, but after Fumio Kishida came to power, he joined the United States in the sanctions against Russia, and Japan-Russia relations deteriorated, and in March 2022, the Russian side officially announced that it would suspend the peace talks process with Japan. This also means that it is obviously impossible for the Japanese side to return to the Kuril Islands.
Now that the Japanese side has increased sanctions against Russia, the Russian side is naturally even more polite, not only to develop the Kuril Islands, but also to invite the Chinese side to join them. In fact, as early as October this year, at the Sino-Russian Tourism Forum, the Russian side put forward plans to cooperate with the Chinese side in the development of the Kuril Islands and to carry out ecological and cruise tourism. According to the relevant person in charge of the Russian side, the main development tasks of the Kuril Islands region include the construction of convenient docks and ports, ecological paths and ecological camps. The Russian Deputy Prime Minister said that at present, there are more than 20 cooperation projects of the Russian side in the Kuril Islands, and under the vigorous publicity of the Russian side, many Chinese investors have expressed their willingness to participate in the project.
[Russian Deputy Prime Minister Trutnev]
It is worth mentioning that before the start of the development of the Kuril Islands, the Russian side also deliberately "refuted a rumor" to the Chinese side, and the Russian Deputy Prime Minister deliberately emphasized in his speech that it was not the Chinese government that participated in the development of the project, but Chinese investors. Earlier, our Foreign Ministry made it clear that the issue of the Kuril Islands is a matter between Russia and Japan. Now Russia's move is obviously taking into account China's position on this matter and avoiding the risk of drawing China into the territorial dispute between the two countries.
Previously, in his annual interview, Putin said that Sino-Russian cooperation is not aimed at any third country, and this is what the Chinese side has repeatedly emphasized. The statement of the Russian deputy prime minister now shows that the Russian side has not only firmly remembered what the Chinese side said, but also put it into practice.