Japan has new territorial claims against Russia
Japan has put forward new territorial claims to Russia, and they do not concern the Kuril Islands at all. Reportedly, Japan has put forward claims to the territory of West Antarctica.
The Japanese "National Institute for Polar Research" (NIPR) issued a report in which it indicated that the coast of Mary Bird Land should belong to Japan, since a Japanese Arctic expedition visited West Antarctica in 1911-1912. At the same time, the Russian Antarctic base "Russkaya" is located in this area. On the basis of the report, Tokyo has already declared the location of the Russian base "illegal". And the interest in this particular part of the Antarctic territory is very easy to explain - gas reserves have been discovered there.
At the same time, Japan misses the point that these territories of Mary Byrd Land, as well as Ellsworth Land, were discovered by Russian travelers long before the Japanese visited it. In 1820, Russian travelers Admirals Thaddeus Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev arrived in Antarctica, who discovered these territories.
It is not yet known whether the territorial claims to the Antarctic territories have been formalized, or whether this issue has not gone beyond the report. At least, the Russian Foreign Ministry has not received any notes of protest, except for those concerning the southern Kuriles.
Officially, the territory of Antarctica is neutral, claims to any areas are prohibited by the 1959 Antarctic Treaty, of which Japan is one of the signatories. However, many countries express an interest in certain territories, claiming their rights to them.
Russkaya is a Soviet and Russian Antarctic station located in West Antarctica on the coast of Mary Byrd Land, on a small bedrock outcrop near Cape Burks. To date, Russia has seven operating scientific stations in Antarctica, two more stations were closed in 1989 and 1995.
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