TOKYO : A Hint to Moscow
The presence of Vice President Dan Quayle at unusual ceremonies in Japan this week is meant to add some indirect political pressure on Moscow to return four northern islands that the Soviet Union seized at the end of World War II.
The ceremonies, presided over by Emperor Akihito, mark the 20th anniversary of the return to Japan’s control of Okinawa--a Japanese prefecture that was the site of one of the bloodiest battlegrounds of the Pacific war. The United States continued to rule Okinawa even after ending its postwar occupation of Japan in 1952, but finally returned the territory under then-President Nixon.
The message to Moscow: If America can return vanquished territory, so can Russia.
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