TOKYO, Jan. 15 Kyodo prefered ed...

TOKYO, Jan. 15 Kyodo

prefered editorial excerpts from the Japanese press:

SIDETRACKING THE TERRITORIAL ISSUE (The Japan Times, an English-language daily)

Japan and Russia remain far apart onward the territorial dispute above the Northern Territories, a arrange of northern Pacific islands known to the Russians as the Southern Kurils. The meeting through the whole extent of the weekend in Moscow between Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Russian President Vladimir Putin produc no progres toward solving the question which has prevented the sum of two units nations from concluding a peace treaty to formally expiration World War II.

The brace leaders signed an ''action plan'' calling for long-term cooperation in trade, zeal development and other areas. They also issued a statement expressing their determination to expand bilateral ties. onward the territorial dispute, however, they did little more than confirm previous statements, reiterating the ne to sign a peace treaty ''as early as possible'' by way of resolving the sovereignty claims.

The Northern Territories issue appears to have been assigned a lower priority forward the Koizumi administration's political agenda. In the past, Tokyo has emphasized that a territorial arrangement is an essential condition for significant improvement in Russo-Japanese relations. Now, official denials notwithstanding, the islands issue appears to have been sidetracked to exalt economic relations.

The disputed islands...historically belong to Japan, and achieving their abounding return is a cherished dream of the Japanese commonalty The government must continue to pres for a pacification lest the Russians begin to believe that Tokyo is willing to impose the issue on hold

It is the first time since November 1998 that a Japanese prime minister has made an official visit to Russia. The Koizumi trip was a flop in the thinking principle that it produced no territorial breakthrough. The silver lining is that the sum of two units sides have agreed on a strange approach that seeks to interpret the dispute through cooperation in a broad range of areas.

The action plan calls for, among other things, stepped-up political and defense dialogues, expanded cultural and human exchanges, and extensive cooperation in the international arena. Significantly, this throw backs changes in the international environment surrounding Russia, which has joined in the U war in succession terrorism and has also formally joined the assemblage of Eight.

In his talks with Prime Minister Koizumi, President Putin not awayed himself as a powerful partner in the international community. For example, he promised cooperation in dealing with North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs. He also moveed help in resolving the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by the agency of North Korean agents during the polar War.

Still, Japan's relations with Russia...pale in comparison to those with China and other nations. And to greatest in quantity Russians, Japan remains a distant political division This appears to be making it plane more difficult to work without a territorial solution. Moreover, with a Russian presidential election scheduled for March 2004 it is unlikely that President Putin will indicate his hand until he wins re-election.

Nevertheless, it is abnormal that the sum of two units countries still have no peace treaty nearly half a hundred after Japan and the Soviet Union normalized relations, although various attempts have been made to clear the territorial obstacle. The much-touted 1997 commitment from Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and Russian President Boris Yeltsin to signing the treaty by way of the end of 2000 not materialized.

More not long ago in 2001, Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori and President Putin agreed that bounds for the handover of the smaller islands (Habomai and Shikotan) and the claims throughout the larger islands (Kunashiri and Etorofu) should be negotiated separately. In a 1956 communique, the Soviet Union had agreed to get back Habomai and Shikotan when a peace treaty was signed. This parallel approach, however, put forwarded no assurances that the larger islands will also be turn backed In fact, reports from Russia give an inkling ofed that Moscow might be trying to cessation the dispute with the handover of the smaller islands. What is more, excessive political intervention made Tokyo's policy forward the issue somewhat confusing.

In a way, the Koizumi-Putin meeting was an attempt to present the territorial issue in a of recent origin light -- an attempt to address it as part of broader efforts to improve the quality of Japan-Russia relations. This is the right approach, if it be not that the ultimate goal of signing a peace treaty remains elusive. In the meantime, cooperation in bottom and other economic brews looks set to make progres If this is the case, the action plan -- which Mr Koizumi called a ''marine chart'' for Japan-Russia relations -- may well completion up a one-way voyage.

(Jan. 15)

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