The FINANCIAL — TOKYO, Russia will demand that Japanese authorities tighten security around Russian diplomatic facilities following an attempt to break down the embassy gates in Tokyo, a diplomat said on July 27.
According to Russian embassy staff, a Japanese man with suspected links to a Far Right organization attempted late on Sunday to break through the embassy gates in a car, in protest against Russia's refusal to hand a disputed island chain back to Japan.
"In light of the Sunday incident, the Russian embassy will demand that the Japanese authorities take every effort to prevent such incidents in the future, and tighten security around the embassy and other buildings housing Russian officials in Japan," the diplomat said.
The 39-year-old man, who "was drunk and shouted anti-Russian slogans," has been detained. None of the embassy workers were hurt in the incident.
The Mainichi daily confirmed on Monday that the man, who rammed his car into a barricade in front of the Russian embassy at about 23.00 local time on Sunday, demanded that Russia return the disputed Kuril islands to Japan.
The lengthy dispute over the four southern Kuril islands has so far prevented Russia and Japan from signing a formal WWII peace treaty. The islands were annexed by the Soviet Union at the end of the war.
In 2006 Russia offered to return to Japan the Shikotan and Khabomai islands, with a combined area of just 276 square kilometers (172 square miles), or 6% of the disputed territory, on the condition that Tokyo renounced its claims to the two larger islands, Iturup and Kunashir, whose combined area totals 4,629 square kilometers (2,890 square miles).
Japan rejected the proposal, insisting on its right to all four islands. Last month Japan's parliament infuriated Russia by passing a law declaring the islands Japanese territory.
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