Russia’s Foreign Ministry is preparing to criticize recommendations published on Monday by Japan’s Ministry of Education to include in school textbooks a statement that the Southern Kuril Islands are historically Japanese territory illegally occupied by Russia. At the same time, Moscow intends to express its disagreement in the mildest possible terms so as not to harm the rapidly developing Russian-Japanese relationship. ... Russia’s reaction stands in contrast to Seoul’s response to the Japanese Education Ministry’s recommendations. Although the South Korean-controlled Dokdo Islands, which Japan also claims, were not described as illegally occupied, the call to demand their return prompted Seoul to immediately lodge a protest with Japan and announce the recall of its ambassador from Tokyo. http:*//www.kommersant.ru/doc.aspx?DocsID=912855&NodesID=5 The Japanese have gotten brazen. But it’s not only the Japanese who have. Some time ago there was a scandal over candy wrappers on which the Southern Kurils were marked as belonging to Japan. And now I’ve discovered that quite authoritative players in the internet market are also taking part in the information campaign to softly legitimize the claim that "the Southern Kurils do not belong to Russia." Far more authoritative than a confectionery factory, or even Japan’s Ministry of Education. That company is Google. Or rather, its Googl**e Earth service. Tho****se who have used it know that it is an excellent service for viewing maps, satellite imagery, terrain, and 3D buildings. The service claims to provide high-quality, verified information on the state and administrative borders of countries. And it does provide that... in most cases. But if you try to look at a satellite image of the Russian Far East, you will see that according to Google Earth, the Southern** Kurils DO NOT BELONG TO RUSSIA.
The last island before the state border is Urup Island. The islands of Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir, and the entire Habomai chain are shown as lying outside the Russian Federation. Both their Russian and Japanese names are given. At the same time, the Southern Kurils are not "included" in Japan either, and instead appear to lie in the middle of the sea on their own. As if awaiting some special decision that will settle the islands’ final status. It is worth noting that state borders in the service are marked in yellow. But here the color is red. So what does that mean? We can guess by looking for red in other places. And we find it! Voila:
**Kosovo! **A great analogy, isn’t it? Personally, I found the red color in three more places: the states of Jammu and Kashmir in India, Western Sahara, and the Gaza Strip with the West Bank. **Interestingly, neither Abkhazia, nor South Ossetia, nor Transnistria are marked in red. **That means that for Google, our Southern Kurils are a much more disputed zone than Transnistria and Abkhazia, which have in practice long been independent. Google is putting them on a par with Western Sahara (where there is a war), Kosovo, and the Gaza Strip. I am far from calling on the internet public to stage some grand hysteria over this. But I do think this piece of Google filth should be publicized. And explanations should be demanded, along with the correction of Russia’s map to the form in which it is recognized BY THE ENTIRE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY. There is no hope that the meaningless mumblers at Russia’s Foreign Ministry will react to this in any way. We have to rely on our own strength. After all, if the Google people had marked Turkish Kurdistan as disputed, internet Turks around the world would have torn them apart alive. That’s why they don’t mark it. *But Russians can be treated that way. They’ll just swallow it. *So here’s the request: spread this information as widely as possible if anyone has experience writing angry and strongly worded letters to Google, please share it. I think we should try to organize firm but correct mass appeals. Let’s do our part in defending the territorial integrity of the Russian Federation.
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