Soviets, Japanese Report No Progress on Old Territorial Dispute

After a hiatus of more than 2 1/2 years, the foreign ministers of the Soviet Union and Japan resumed talks Monday on a 43-year-old territorial dispute but made no apparent progress.

At the start of the talks, Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze told his Japanese counterpart, Sosuke Uno, that his visit would open a “new chapter” in Japan-Soviet relations. Shevardnadze proposed a bilateral investment protection agreement to promote joint ventures, in keeping with the Soviet objective of drawing Japanese capital and technology into Siberian development.

No Progress on Islands

But after more than six hours of talks Monday, the two sides had no progress to report on the question of the Soviet occupation of the “Northern Territories,” a group of islands off Japan’s northernmost main island of Hokkaido. It was reported that Uno planned to recommend setting up a working-level group to deal with the issue and that the two foreign ministers would take it up again in their talks today.

The two sides were expected to issue a joint communique Wednesday at the conclusion of the talks.

Although Japan and the Soviet Union re-established full diplomatic ties after World War II, they have yet to conclude a peace treaty, largely because of the Soviet occupation of islands since 1945. Japan claims the islands and insists significant progress in political relations and economic cooperation cannot be made until they are returned.

In the past, the Soviets have officially denied the existence of any territorial problem. But in recent informal contacts, they had hinted that they were once again ready to discuss the issue, and when Shevardnadze arrived in Tokyo on Sunday, he suggested in a brief speech that further delays in diplomatic progress were no longer desirable.

It was Shevardnadze’s first visit to Tokyo since January, 1986. The two sides have not held ministerial-level consultations since former Foreign Minister Shintaro Abe went to Moscow in May of that year.

If Uno can persuade Shevardnadze to seriously discuss the islands, it will be the first time in 15 years--since former Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka visited Moscow in 1973--that any significant movement has taken place in the territorial stalemate.

Indication of Flexibility

A decision last week by the Japanese government to ratify a 1973 bilateral treaty protecting endangered migratory birds, meanwhile, could be a harbinger of more flexibility in the negotiating stance of both sides. Uno and Shevardnadze are expected to exchange notes on Japan’s ratification of the treaty today. An agreement on cultural exchanges also is in the works.

Shevardnadze, who called at the Imperial Palace on Monday to sign a well-wishers register for the ailing Emperor Hirohito, is scheduled to meet today with Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita, former Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone and Abe, currently secretary general of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

In addition to the territorial dispute, a key matter on the agenda of the talks will be Japan’s proposal that Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev visit Tokyo sometime next year, becoming the first Soviet leader to make the trip.

Shevardnadze is scheduled to leave Japan on Wednesday and visit the Philippines and North Korea before returning to Moscow.