RUSSIA REJECTS JAPANESE PROTEST OVER SHOOTING IN

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TOKYO 004740 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/18/2016 TAGS: PREL MARR JA RS SUBJECT: RUSSIA REJECTS JAPANESE PROTEST OVER SHOOTING IN NORTHERN TERRITORIES REF: TOKYO 04665 Classified By: Ambassador J.Thomas Schieffer. Reasons 1.4 (B) (D) ¶1. (C) Summary. Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso called in Russian Embassy Charge Mikhail Galuzin on August 17 to demand an apology over an incident in which shots fired by a Russian FSB (Federal Water Service) patrol boat left one Japanese crewmember dead. Aso requested the immediate return of the crewmember's body and the remaining crew. Russian embassy officials rejected the protest, claiming that Japanese authorities in Tokyo and Hokkaido carried "full responsibility" for the incident. According to the Russian embassy, the Russian craft opened fire when the captain of the Japanese vessel "maneuvered the boat dangerously close" to a second FSB small motorboat containing Russian sailors who were attempting to board the fishing boat. End Summary. Japan Delivers Protest -------------- ¶2. (C) On August 17, MOFA European Affairs Bureau Russian Division Deputy Director Kyoichiro Kawakami provided the embassy with new details on the August 16 incident in which a Russian FSB (Federal Water Service) patrol boat fired gunshots at a Japanese fishing boat in waters near the disputed Northern Territories (reftel). FM Aso called in Russian Embassy Charge Mikhail Galuzin on the evening of August 16 to protest the shooting and to request an apology. Aso conveyed two main points: 1) the shooting occurred in an area that Japan believes inherently to be Japanese territory, and 2) Japanese authorities were alarmed about the loss of life, which Kawasaki said was the first such incident in approximately 50 years. The foreign minister requested the immediate return of the body and the return of the remaining three crewmembers captured during the confrontation. ¶3. (C) According to MOFA, Galuzin offered few details beyond the Russian government's August 16 official statement. Noting that the loss of life was sad for Russia as well, Galuzin said that Russia would nevertheless continue to assert its claim to the Northern Territories, Kawakami said. ¶4. (C) MOFA officials have little information about exactly what transpired or how the Japanese fisherman was killed. Kawakami said that the fishing boat appears to have strayed into the Russian-claimed zone, but that Japanese officials did not know why the boat was there or what the crew had been doing. Russian authorities told MOFA that the Russian FSB boat fired several "preventive" shots at the Japanese vessel, according to Kawakami. He speculated that the fisherman was killed by one of the warning rounds. "What happened will not be clear until the crew is returned, so we would like to get the crew back first," Kawakami said. Russian Version -------------- ¶5. (C) Russian Embassy First Secretary Yurey Yuriev confirmed August 17 that Aso met with Galuzin, but said the Russian embassy "did not accept" Japan's protest, in part because Japanese officials publicized their demands on television. Galuzin offered condolences on the death of the Japanese crewmember, and both sides repeated their respective "principled positions" on the Northern Territories issue. ¶6. (C) Yuriev, referring to the Russian August 16 foreign ministry statement, provided the Russian version of the incident. The shooting took place at night and in heavy fog. The Russian FSB patrol craft ordered the Japanese boat to stop. The Japanese captain initially complied by turning off his boat's engines. FSB crewmembers then boarded a small motorboat and headed toward the fishing craft with the intention of boarding it. As the FSB motorboat approached TOKYO 00004740 002 OF 002 the fishing vessel, Yuriev said, the Japanese captain suddenly turned on his engines and "maneuvered the boat dangerously close to the small FSB motorboat" in an attempt to make it back to the Japanese side of the dividing line, he claimed. FSB sailors on the larger patrol boat opened fire, instantly killing the Japanese crewmember. ¶7. (C) Yuriev asserted that responsibility for the incident remained "fully on the Japanese side." Japanese officials in Tokyo and Hokkaido knew well in advance that Japanese boats had been fishing on the Russian side of the dividing line and did nothing to stop it. Japanese officials did nothing to keep their vessels from crossing into Russian-claimed territory, he claimed. ¶8. (C) Russian authorities will return the dead crewmember's body after completing an investigation, which Yuriev thought might be as early as August 18. In the meantime, Russian embassy officials expressed the hope that Russia and Japan would manage to resolve the issue "without emotion." Referring to what he described as unspecified "activities near the embassy" which had taken place (note: NHK reported protests by rightist groups in front of the Russian embassy), Galuzin told Aso that the Russian government hoped that there would not be any reprisals against Russian citizens living in Japan. Comment -------------- ¶9. (C) The Japanese government is apparently hoping to minimize the damage to bilateral relations caused by this incident. Local contacts in Nemuro city, home port of the Japanese fishing vessel, told us August 17 that Nemuro's mayor asked the central government to cancel a visa-free visit by Japanese to Etorofu in the disputed Northern Territories in protest of the shooting. Tokyo, however, refused the request. MOFA announced late August 17 that it would be sending Parliamentary VFM Akiko Yamanaka to Nemuro. SCHIEFFER