Chinese Delegation Visits Disputed Islands Claimed by Japan and Russia

A delegation from Heilongjiang province in northeastern China has visited one of four islands controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan to conduct a feasibility study for joint projects, according to the Sakhalin regional government, the Russian Far East administrative region that oversees the islands.

The Sakhalin authorities announced the visit on Tuesday, marking a new step in economic activity between China and Russia in the island area at the center of a sovereignty dispute between Japan and Russia.

The four islands lie off Japan's Hokkaido and were seized by the Soviet Union after World War II, and Russia has maintained de facto control ever since. Japan continues to claim sovereignty over the islands, which it calls the Northern Territories, while Russia says its sovereignty is beyond dispute. Moscow refers to them as the Kuril Islands.

The Chinese delegation's feasibility study for joint projects in the area is seen as a notable move amid increasingly strengthened Russian-Chinese economic cooperation, particularly in the Russian Far East.