Rebirth without Regrets

Chapter 231 The uproar caused by several islands

On a sunny morning, following the disintegration of the "Soviet Union" in 1991, the world's attention was once again attracted to Russia, because on this morning, the Russian government announced that after the final decision of the Russian Federation Council, it agreed to

The "Southern Qianye Islands" under its jurisdiction was transferred to the world-renowned Feiyuan Investment Co., Ltd.

This news was reported all over the world by various media, and the world was in an uproar. This was not because everyone lamented that Russia's domestic economy was in such dire straits that it had to sell the island to maintain it, nor was it because Feiyuan Investment would spend huge sums of money

The reason for purchasing the islands is because the "Southern Qianye Islands" involved this time is really a sensitive area.

Russia's so-called "Southern Islands" are four islands that have been in dispute with Japan internationally. Japan calls them the "Four Northern Islands" and are part of the Kurile Islands. They are located between Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula and Japan's Hokkaido.

It was originally Japan's Storuma, Kunashiri, Shikotan, and Habomai Islands, with a total area of ​​5,036 square kilometers. It was occupied by the former Soviet Union after World War II.

For a long time, Russia (including the Soviet period) and Japan have had differences over the ownership of the four northern islands. This can be traced back to the mid-19th century. In 1875, Japan and Russia signed a treaty, and all the Kuril Islands belonged to Japan. In 1945, the United States and Britain

The former Soviet Union was asked to fight Japan and cede the southern half of the Kuril Islands and Sakhalin Island occupied by Japan to the former Soviet Union. This gave the former Soviet Union reason to occupy the four northern islands after the end of World War II.

On September 2, 1945, Japan announced its unconditional surrender and confirmed its acceptance of the conditions set forth in the "Yalta Agreement" and the "Potsdam Declaration" by signing a letter of surrender. The latter clearly stipulated that Japan would no longer continue to control Shikotan, Habomai, and Kokusai.

Later, Ezhuo and nearby smaller islands had sovereignty, and the entire Kurile Islands were placed under the Soviet Union.

After the war, the Japanese government has been strongly demanding the return of all the territory of the four northern islands, but the Soviet Union and subsequent Russian governments have always rejected Japan's request to return the four northern islands on the grounds that "the outcome of World War II cannot be changed."

Later, the Soviet Union and Japan began negotiations for "normalization of relations." The Soviet Union made concessions and expressed its willingness to give up Habomai among the four northern islands, and returned the two smaller islands of Shikotan to Japan. But Japan immediately pushed further and demanded that the Soviet Union also

The Soviet Union surrendered the country and asked the Soviet Union to promise to participate in the international "peace conference" to determine the ownership of Sakhalin Island and the entire Kuril Islands. The negotiations broke down. The Soviet government announced to the world that Japan rejected the Soviet Union's proposal to resolve the territorial dispute.

The plan actually gave up its claim to sovereignty over the disputed territory. However, Japan never gave up on the territorial issue. The two countries refused to give in to each other on the issue of returning the northern territories. The negotiations broke down and the territorial dispute began.

After the disintegration of the Soviet Union, the Russian government made it clear that the Russian Federation was willing to assume all international obligations of the former Soviet Union, including the implementation of the 1956 Declaration. However, the Japanese government stated that Japan would not accept a territorial solution in which Russia would only return two of the four northern islands.

He also stated that if the ownership of the four northern islands is not clarified, a peace treaty will not be signed with Russia. Therefore, the dispute over these four islands has always existed.

According to Russia's external propaganda this time, according to the "Potsdam Declaration" after World War II, Russia has legal territorial rights to the "Southern Kuril Islands" and Russia has any right to dispose of them, including the transfer of the four islands to Feiyuan Investment Co., Ltd.

Other countries have no right to interfere. Japan, however, lodged a strong protest, believing that the "Four Northern Islands" have always been Japan's territory. Even due to the war that year, they were still disputed territories. Russia cannot unilaterally ignore Japan and arbitrarily

make a disposition.

It’s no wonder that for Japan, the four northern islands contain rich mineral resources such as gold, silver, copper, and sulfur, and the surrounding seas also have rich fishery resources. Japan is a country severely lacking in natural resources and is almost 100% dependent on

For imports, Japan definitely hopes to take back the four northern islands as soon as possible. The important thing is that it is unwilling to give up the underground mineral resources of the four northern islands. For Japan, if it gets the four islands, it means getting 5,000 square kilometers of excellent harbors and rich fishery resources. Therefore,

, on this issue, Japan has always been determined to "fight every inch of the reef."

As the master of Japan, the United States has always promoted and helped Japan recover the "Four Northern Islands", and has also exerted a lot of pressure on Russia. Russia's move naturally stimulated their nerves. The President of the United States expressed this

There was public condemnation and opposition, and other countries also had mixed opinions on this matter. However, Russia and Feiyuan Investment were very determined about this, and quickly signed a transfer agreement, and strictly stipulated the relocation of Russian residents on the four islands back to Russia.

time.

Afterwards, a spokesman for Feiyuan Company claimed that since the signing of the transfer agreement, the original four northern islands have been renamed Paradise Island, covering an area of ​​about 260 square kilometers. The coastline is relatively curved, there are many large and small harbors, there are many grasses on the island, and the livestock industry is quite large.

The name of the developed Sedan was changed to Mengyue Island; the general names of small islands such as Moemojiri, Crystal, Qiu Yongliu, Yongliu, Shier, Seabird, and Dola, etc., and Habomai with a total area of ​​only 102 square kilometers was renamed to Crystal Island; the area is about 1,500 square kilometers.

Square kilometers, most of the island's ground is covered with volcanic eruptions. There are about 120,000 hectares of virgin forest, as well as gold, silver, sulfur, iron sulfide and other mineral deposits. The country later changed its name to Volcanic Island; the area is about 3,200 square kilometers.

There are 7 volcanic peaks above 1,000 meters above sea level, many lakes on the island, and the forest area of ​​about 300,000 hectares was renamed Paradise Island. These islands are private territories owned by Feiyuan Investment and are protected by international law. In addition, Feiyuan Company

International mercenaries will be hired to protect the island and no other personnel will be allowed to enter without the consent of Feiyuan Company.

In short, for a while, this matter became the focus of heated discussions around the world. Newspapers, TV, and news commentaries were all discussing the causes and consequences of this matter, and paying attention to the progress of the matter. Media from all over the world were constantly sent to Moscow and Hong Kong.

I hope to be able to interview Russian officials and the person in charge of Feiyuan Investment on this matter, and hope to get more data and information.

For a time, the world was in turmoil.

Just as countries all over the world are confused, although the "Four Northern Islands" only cover an area of ​​5,000 square kilometers, for Russia, the "Southern Kuril Islands" are part of the Kuril Islands and have a very important strategic position. The largest of them, Etortu Island, covers an area of ​​3139 square kilometers.

square kilometers, with more than 10 bays, which can berth large ships, and is an important bridgehead in Russia's Far East base group. For Moscow, the loss of the four northern islands, especially the two islands at the back of the country, will open the door to Russia's maritime defense

, seriously affecting Russia’s strategic security.

In addition, the Southern Kuril Islands, regarded by Russia as "the only defense demarcation line in the Far East", are not only very important strategically. Although the islands such as Habomai and Shikotan are small in area, the nearby continental shelf is rich in seafood and has rich fishery resources. In addition, the

The region is also rich in oil and gas resources and mineral reserves of gold, silver, iron, rhenium and other minerals. It has huge economic potential and is of great significance to both the Far East and Russia as a whole.

But since these four small islands are so important to Russia, how could Russia transfer them to Feiyuan Investment Company? Not only the news media are so confused, but even Japan and the United States are puzzled.

Over the years, Japan has taken great pains to take back the "Four Northern Islands" and tried every means but failed. Feiyuan Investment is just a company. How could Russia transfer the "Four Northern Islands" that it regards as a treasure?

What about them? What will Feiyuan Investment do with these islands?

In fact, Russia is also suffering. Due to the political and economic system of the former Soviet Union, it is impossible to maintain an economic structure focusing on heavy industry and military industry while maintaining high welfare. However, once it meets the needs of domestic politics,

If we have to embark on the road of no return to high welfare, then sooner or later, the "overdraft" of national power will inevitably lead to an economic crisis.

Under such circumstances, the development of the "Four Northern Islands" is seriously underdeveloped. The residents live in poverty and their living standards have been at a relatively low level for a long time. The people are very dissatisfied. At the same time, there are large loopholes in administrative management, and there is still a way to recycle federal funds in private banks.

Power, the Ministry of Finance has to fight against this phenomenon every year, but in vain.

If these problems are not big problems in normal times, they are more fatal when the Soviet Union disintegrates and the country's economy is in trouble. There is a serious shortage of domestic materials, currency depreciation, and soaring prices, and the entire country's people have fallen into poverty.

.In order to solve these problems, improve the national economic structure, and help the country tide over difficulties, the Russian government urgently needs a large amount of capital injection.

Although international banks and some countries such as China provided some funds for it, it was only a drop in the bucket for the economic reform of Russia as a whole. Under this situation, Russia had to put its thoughts on these islands. It once thought

By granting Japan an interest-free loan of US$30 billion, the "Four Northern Islands" were returned to Japan. However, at this time, Japan's economic bubble burst and it was also in trouble. Moreover, they believed that the "Four Northern Islands" were originally theirs.

, can be brought back through politics. The US government also stated that it would assist Japan in resolving the northern territorial issue during the talks between Russia and the United States, so they flatly rejected Russia's request.

The Russian government was at a loss and had to ask for a huge loan from Feiyuan International Bank, which had just been established in Russia. Feiyuan Investment Company's international status and strength are well known. In Russia, it not only acquired a large number of bankrupt factories and mining enterprises

, and also imported a large amount of urgently needed materials to Russia, helped Russia solve many problems, and have a very close relationship with Russian officials.

Feiyuan International Bank did not refuse Russia's request for a huge loan, but it put forward another proposal, which was to invest 10 billion US dollars to purchase the "Southern Kuril Islands" from Russia, and provide Russia with a further thirty years of up to

A low-interest loan of five million US dollars, and these funds can be provided in the form of materials or other currencies according to Russia's requirements.

For the feast launched by Feiyuan Investment Company, the troubled Russian side really has no reason to refuse. Moreover, Feiyuan Company's "silver bullet policy" has made many senior officials agree with this plan. As for the Russian people

Their reaction is not within the scope of their consideration. What they care about now is more about being able to find a job and have enough food to eat.

Besides, these small islands are not originally Russian territory, and there are not many residents, so the voices of resistance and opposition are not too loud. After all, selling small islands to private individuals is not a precedent set by Russia. Celebrities and business leaders in the world

There has been a long tradition of buying islands as private spaces. Both Mick Gagore and British Princess Margaret bought real estate on Mustik Island, while Richard Branson bought a house in the UK.

Nickel Island was bought in the West Indies, Mel Gibson bought his own island in Fiji, and Marlon Brando bought the coral island Tetiroa in French Polynesia. This time Russia transferred four islands to

Feiyuan Company not only got rid of a burden, but also received a large amount of funds to improve the domestic economic situation. Everyone was happy about this.

So after careful deliberation, the Russian Federation Council approved the motion, and the two parties quickly signed the agreement, and this was the beginning of the scene.

As for the reactions of various countries, the Russian government can't control that much. Getting the money is the real thing. The Northern Quartet has had many disputes with Japan over the years. Now that it is sold, it can be regarded as solving the problem once and for all. What problems will there be in the future?

, let Feiyuan Investment take the headache away!

The people on the island had no objections or objections to this, and the relocation went smoothly. Originally, they were unwilling to continue living on this poor island. Now that Feiyuan Investment has provided a relocation fee of US$2,000 per person, the government

A special place will be allocated to accommodate them, so the relocation work was all completed in less than a month. Except for the staff sent by Feiyuan Company, there are no other people on the four islands.

To this end, Feiyuan Company spent tens of millions of dollars.

Of course, in Japan, the party whose interests were harmed, both the official and the people were filled with indignation and took various measures to oppose this "illegal" transaction and behavior. There were grand demonstrations in the country, and on the right-wing

Incited by the forces, they boycotted Feiyuan Company one after another, and even attacked Feiyuan Company. Some Japanese people working at Feiyuan Company also resigned.

Feiyuan Company simply ignored the demonstrations and boycotts. Even though it would cause certain economic losses, the senior management had long been mentally prepared and able to withstand this. As for violence and incidents that affected the company's operations, Feiyuan Company

While Yuan Company was gradually evacuating its employees from Japan for safety reasons, it also made serious protests to the Japanese government.