Those, mostly in Japan, who expected that the two leaders would, at one stroke, resolve the decades-old territorial dispute, were disappointed. In another disappointment, Putin politely declined to bathe with Abe in Nagato’s famed hot springs, subtly signaling that Russia-Japan relations have not yet matured sufficiently for such an intimacy to happen.
However, the summit did result in some deliverables. The two sides agreed to start consultations on arrangements for joint economic development...
- Опубликовано:
- 26.12.2016 07:42:00
For many years now North Korea has been relentlessly trying to perfect its nuclear program by conducting four nuclear tests and developing ballistic missiles that could be topped with nuclear warheads.
A Russian regional security expert in Vladivostok says North Korea cannot but continue to develop nuclear weapons because it believes that is the only way to guarantee regime survival.
"It is a defensive weapon for them a political tool for survival and some extent a tool of black mailing and...
- Опубликовано:
- 14.09.2016 08:56:00
Russia's budget deficit could reach 1.5 trillion rubles (US$21.7 billion) in 2016 with an oil price baseline of US$40 a barrel, Deputy Finance Minister Maxim Oreshkin was quoted by Interfax as saying. But now, the oil price has fallen to its lowest level since 2004, with Brent Crude at US$36.05 a barrel as of December 21.
Amidst Russia’s strained relations with the West, and now Turkey as well, Chinese investment has become more important to the Russian economy. But can Russia count...
- Опубликовано:
- 11.01.2016 06:21:00
Nowadays, Russia is the global leader in the number of nuclear energy blocks under commissioning abroad. The state company Rosatom has been building 18 nuclear power blocks. The high competitiveness is based upon sophisticated modern technologies, all projects meet IAAE requirements. The most popular export product is 3rd generation light water reactor. The gross sum of contracts in 2014 exceeded 100 billion USD and demand tends to grow up as there is an evident need for reliable source of alternative...
- Опубликовано:
- 26.08.2015 09:53:00
The last 2014 was rich in events, substantially changed international situation in the world. This also applies to russian-north korean relations, which has been given new impulse. It is illustrated by intensification of visits to Russia the DPRK`s high-ranking delegations. Particularly, since last year`s February the DPRK Supreme People's Assembly Presidium Chairman Kim Yong-Nam[1], North Korea's Minister of Foreign Trade Lee Ren-Nam[2], the DPRK Foreign Minister Lee Soo-Young[3]...
- Опубликовано:
- 24.08.2015 11:59:00
On 13 July 2015 Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a legislation establishing Vladivostok Free Port. One of effects of the new law is the introduction of the on-arrival visa regime in Vladivostok. This can promote tourism from Japan.
The City of Vladivostok is a jewel in the Far East. Every Japanese visitor is impressed by the fact that there is an authentic European city so close to Japan. It takes only two and half hours' flight from Tokyo-Narita Airport to Vladivostok. If the flow...
- Опубликовано:
- 12.08.2015 06:00:00
Kim Jong-un is scheduled to visit Moscow this May as one of the Kremlin's numerous guests of honor for the 70th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. This will be his first visit abroad since he succeeded his father Kim Jong-il as the ruler of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea in December 2011.
Kim Jong-un's trip to Moscow is one indication of the warming relationship between Russia and North Korea. The past year has seen a flurry of high-level exchanges...
- Опубликовано:
- 08.04.2015 10:52:00
This eastward drive has been in the making for quite a while. In the second half of the 2000s, Moscow began taking steps to develop the long-neglected Russian Far East, expand economic cooperation with East Asia, and diversify away from economically stagnant Europe.
At the time, Moscow’s pursuit of closer ties with Asia seemed somewhat half-hearted and did not produce substantial results.
It was not until the arrival of the Ukraine crisis and subsequent Western sanctions that Russia’s...
- Опубликовано:
- 06.04.2015 05:39:00
In the aftermath of Western sanctions on Ukraine, many analysts have predicted that Russia will reorient its economy away from the West, with which it has profitably traded energy in exchange for investment and consumer goods, toward the East, toward China above all.
There are some signs that economies ties between Russia and China are developing. Chinese direct investment in Russia more than doubled in 2014, reaching $8 billion, according to China’s Ministry of Commerce. Leading Russian...
- Опубликовано:
- 12.03.2015 06:39:00
Seen at least from the perspective of East Asia, the Russian Far East (RFE) is very much the odd man out when it comes to the regional economic miracle of the last generation. There are multiple reasons for the RFE having largely missed this boat, but it cannot be put down merely to the legacy of Socialism, for Heilongjiang across the border has managed to enrich itself greatly. Deficiencies in institutions — such as the rule of law — are hindrances, but again, China has managed.
Nor...
- Опубликовано:
- 04.03.2015 09:14:00
The Eurasia Initiative and the Korean-Russian Gas Pipeline Project
More than a year has passed since the administration of President Park Geun-hye announced the Eurasia Initiative. Both concerns and hopes have been expressed on the subject. The Eurasia Initiative aspires to create an amicable international atmosphere for the reunification of the two Koreas, as well as to stabilize the Korean Peninsula through economic cooperation with countries to the north. It also aims to build new momentum for...
- Опубликовано:
- 02.03.2015 05:40:00
From world-economy to American world-empire
What is the nature of the modern world order? Answers to this question are incalculable many. However, the one provided by Salvatore Babones, a native New Yorker and currently a professor at the University of Sydney (salvatorebabones.com), has recently struck me as probably the most compelling. His article, published by Far Eastern Federal University’s Oriental Institute Journal, is available here (FULL TEXT)
Challenging a conventional wisdom...
- Опубликовано:
- 02.02.2015 10:30:00
On July 3, 1988 Iran Air Flight 655 was shot down over the Persian Gulf by the US Navy cruiser USS Vincennes. All 290 people on board were killed. The civilian airliner was shot down in Iranian airspace while flying a regularly scheduled flight on its registered flight path. The incident occurred more than 10,000 km away from the United States.
There were no international calls for sanctions on the United States. American businesses were not penalized and American officials were not inconvenienced...
- Опубликовано:
- 08.11.2014 09:18:00
Even under the regime of the strategic partnership China can hardly be named the true advocate of the Russian interests on the Far East and North East Asia. The dynamic of the regional cooperation witnesses on poor development of local cooperation mechanisms – investment activity and amount of the implemented projects aren’t covering mutual demands. Also we have a trade misbalance – 76% of the Russian export consists of minerals, raw materials, hydrocarbons, timber, fish.
Since...
- Опубликовано:
- 20.10.2014 10:32:00
As a Scotsman researching the contemporary attempts to develop the Russian Far East, it can often feel like a distant endeavour when reading and writing about events from my office far away in Glasgow. With that in mind I recently spent a few weeks visiting four cities in the region to bring my local knowledge back up to speed and get a real look at how things are developing, covering Yakutsk, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok and Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. As with any traveller, foreign guest or academic, I arrived...
- Опубликовано:
- 29.08.2014 12:26:00
As the inaugural Russia-China Expo ended in Harbin last week, which was attended by more than 1,500 exhibitors, the event has created another momentum for Russia-China relations since the Russian-Chinese “gas deal of the century” was signed in May. As apparently Russia is looking east to diversify its economy amidst economic sanctions from the West, China, Russia’s counterpart with more than 4,000 kilometers shared border and the world’s one of the biggest economies shows...
- Опубликовано:
- 18.08.2014 14:38:00
Whereas the first two world wars broke out and were fought mainly in Europe, the third world war, if it is not avoided, will most probably erupt in the Asia-Pacific region. Quite a few scholars and political leaders have found striking similarities between what took place in Europe before the first world war and what we are now witnessing in Asia. The current security situation in the Asia-Pacific - with competing sovereignty claims, the rise of nationalism among both major and lesser countries,...
- Опубликовано:
- 29.07.2014 13:35:00
In the Ukraine crisis, there is one player who is going to win regardless of the outcome of the standoff. Yet this player has apparently nothing to do with the whole story. That is China.
The leadership in Beijing must be secretly delighted watching the struggle between Russia and the West. The Ukraine crisis can seriously poison Moscow’s relations with Washington and Brussels for a long time to come, thus reducing their mutual ability to coordinate policies on the major issues in world politics...
- Опубликовано:
- 06.03.2014 16:14:00
On October 10th , Brunei hosted East Asia Summit. This was the 8th annual meeting of EAS – the forum which was launched in 2005 and has now gained the status of the Asia-Pacific’s most important multilateral venue to discuss security issues at the highest political level. EAS now consists of 18 members (10 ASEAN countries, Japan, China, South Korea, India, Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Russia).
The Brunei Summit was remarkable for the absence of the leaders of two key powers –...
- Опубликовано:
- 13.10.2013 12:57:00
Introduction
Although there is much speculation on the nature of the Sino-Russian strategic partnership, most Western scholars view the Sino-Russian strategic partnership as limited, fragile, easily fractured, and not a formal alliance. There was always an assumption that Moscow and Beijing knew what the partnership was even if the outside world did not. This paper is a case study of how Beijing and Moscow failed to agree on the partnership’s identity and purpose during the 2012-2013 Diaoyu/Senkaku...
- Опубликовано:
- 19.09.2013 13:32:00