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Japan's territorial claim beyond post-war order could open floodgate

By Cao Cong

Japan's territorial claim beyond post-war order could open floodgate

Following Japan's surrender in 1945, the Soviet Union took control of the Southern Kuril Islands, a territorial reality that has continued to this day, according to the 1943 Cairo Declaration, the 1945 Potsdam Proclamation, and the 1945 Yalta Agreement. But Japan is citing mainly the 1855 Treaty of Shimoda and the 1875 Treaty of St. Petersburg to claim its sovereignty over the islands. Some right-wing forces in Japan are increasingly incorporating the islands issue into their political narrative of "breaking away from the postwar regime." But, any attempt to use territorial disputes as a pretext to break free from the constraints of the postwar system and advance historical revisionism and remilitarization is bound to jeopardize peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific.