THE AFTERMATH OF THE ONSEN SUMMIT: JAPAN AND RUSSIA INK BILLIONS IN ...

After the Onsen summit between Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, I made a basic prediction that the issue of the Kuril islands would not be a stumbling block for Russia and Japan moving forward with lucrative trade deals. There is a simple geopolitical reality driving these events: as US power declines, Japan needs other strong allies, and a secure supply of energy, and Russia is  ready to hand with energy resources in Siberia that are close to hand. Russia, in turn, needs Japan as a counter-balance to growing Chinese influence, and also as a financial and technological ally in its long term plans to develop the region. For the foreseeable future, Japan's and Russia's geopolitical and financial interests coincide to an amazing degree, and to a degree completely unimaginable just a half a century ago.

What I did not expect were for so many details and deals to be worked out so quickly; I was thinking in terms of a few weeks or perhaps months, but Moscow and Tokyo are apparently on a much faster clock than I am, according to this story from Russia Insider shared by Ms. B. and Mr. V.K.:

Another Neocon Setback - Japan Inks Billions in Deals with Russia

There's two basic points in this article that I want to bring to your attention.

Firstly, note the size and extent of the recently inked deals, and note the contextual template in which they are made:

Vladimir Putin's recent visit to Japan has proven quite lucrative. The two countries have closed 23 deals on offshore oil and LNG that are worth billions of dollars.

Oilprice.com reported:

...

The deals included Russian state-owned oil giant Rosneft and a consortium of Japanese companies comprising Marubeni Corporation, Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation (JOGMEC) and INPEX Corp. signing a Heads of Agreement for joint exploration, development and production offshore Russia, according to Rosneft.

Russia has gradually been shifting its focus east following the implementation of sanctions against the country by the West over its annexation of Crimea. Prior to this weekend’s deals, the focus had been on China and India, with ties between Russia and Japan complicated by the territorial dispute over the islands, which Russia refers to as the Kuril Islands, and Japan calls the Northern Territories.

While not much is being said here about the possible role the Kuril islands have played in these negotiations, I strong suspect that they played some, for recall that in my News and Views from the Nefarium that discussed the Onsen summit, and in subsequent blogs, it appears that Japan and Russia are pursuing a different way of resolving the territorial dispute by making the disputed islands the centerpiece of a kind of "free trade zone", operating under Russian law but with full Japanese access.  While time will tell if this speculation proves to be true, as I suspect it is, it is a natural solution to the needs of both countries and geopolitically, the islands are situated to be the physical "port of entry" for the flow of goods, capital, services, technology and human exchange  for the long-term plans of both countries represented by these deals. The fact that Russia Insider would mention the Kuril islands in the context of these deals is a subtle way of admitting that they were indeed the context in which these deals were made. Russia is, in short, sending messages, though subtle ones. Again, time will tell if this reading is correct, but I suspect it is because this paragraph from the article strongly suggests it:

The new deals signed with Japan could yield billions for companies from both countries in the Kuril Islands, which Russia annexed following World War II, but which are still claimed by the Japanese.

But there a second point here, and a second message. The article concludes with a self-evident bit of propaganda and posturing:

Ever since the European Union decided to hitch its wagon to the falling star of US transatlantic hegemony and impose self-destructive economic sanctions on Russia, Moscow has increasingly turned East, toward Asia, for trade and investment.

...

Not only is the United States poised to lose its influence in Europe if continues pressing the EU to maintain sanctions, but it may even lose Asian allies as countries like Japan and the Philippines realize there(sic) economic interests lie in Asia and not in North America.

Looking more deeply behind these rather blunt statements - indeed, they recall the tone of the "Radio Moscow" and TASS and Pravda of the Cold War - what these deals also suggest is that they allow, via Japan, a deeper Russian financial penetration into the Pacific rim, and for Japan, a similar opportunity for more independent foreign policy maneuvering room via its growing financial ties with Russia. Putting this high octane speculation a bit more crudely, perhaps we are witnessing the emergence of a Russo-Japanese "interest" within the wider context of the Shanghai accord nations and BRICSA bloc. Indeed, the wording of that last paragraph in the article, using the word "ally" and Japan in the same context, and pointing out that financial interests are driving new geopolitical realities, suggests that perhaps much more was discussed privately between the Russian and Japanese delegations than simply trade deals.

If so, the dance between the major powers of the region - the USA, India, China, Russia, and Japan - will become increasingly delicate and intricate, with up and coming economies like Indonesia playing increasingly important roles. What to look for? With trade inevitably comes joint  and mutual political interests. Watch for Russia and Japan to start making joint political statements on regional geopolitical matters. It will start as a slow trickle, but it will come. It will come because Russia's "Pacific pivot" appears to be happening much more quickly than the USA's, perhaps because Russia is offering something other than aircraft carrier battle groups, bases, and drones...

See you on the flip side...

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Joseph P. Farrell

Joseph P. Farrell has a doctorate in patristics from the University of Oxford, and pursues research in physics, alternative history and science, and "strange stuff". His book The Giza DeathStar, for which the Giza Community is named, was published in the spring of 2002, and was his first venture into "alternative history and science".

31 Comments

  1. goshawks on December 29, 2016 at 2:09 am

    In the words of the late Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia Organa): “The more you tighten your grip, Tarkin, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”

    Putin seems to be deal-making from a win-win mindset. The Cabal/Empire seems to be ‘deal-making’ from a Death Star strategy. It will be interesting to see which is more effective, long-term…

    One thing really causes me questions: The Cabal pushing Russia and China together.

    Are the Cabal so stupid that they could not forecast pinning each nation against the wall would not cause them to ‘bond’? Or, are they subtly forming a Eurasian superstate, just as David Icke forecast, through Problem->Reaction->Solution?



  2. Pellevoisin on December 29, 2016 at 12:17 am

    I am not among the surprised regarding the details emerging in the agreements between the Empire of Japan and the Russian government. Whispers regarding secret Russo-Japanese discussions had been fairly consistent for years. Such notes and information appeared mostly in non-English press or blog sources, and my window into the information came via Hungarian and Finnish sources. I believe Putin’s long term plans crystallised around 2006 when it was clear that Siberia had to be developed and could only be developed with Japanese financial resources in order to combat a little discussed PRChina plan to invest in Siberia with an eye to shipping Han workers into Siberia so that the Han would de facto control Siberia.

    Those who looked beyond what appeared to be mere propaganda (or wild speculation) saw a serious threat to the territorial integrity of Russia from PRChina by laying the groundwork for a future ,,Anschluß” when sheer numbers of Han Chinese workers living in Siberia would tilt the region irreversibly into Beijing sphere of control (and not merely a sphere of interest).



  3. zendogbreath on December 28, 2016 at 11:28 pm

    As regards the bots and mods (b and m) or just (bm), it might help to recognize that all our media is being presented and sanitizedto convince naive children of rhe next generations. Similar to how many of us lived for hiw many decades thinking japan forced the ussa into war at pearl and germany did same with lusitania and…..

    To that direction comes vaious iterations and memes as needed by mr global:



    • zendogbreath on December 28, 2016 at 11:31 pm

      So now we have fake news and new laws bout prop or not. How much longer do we all think darpanet is going to allow us such access andhigh octane speculations out loud?



    • zendogbreath on December 28, 2016 at 11:35 pm

      Specially since killin the head of rt hasnt slowed the flow of inconvenient truths much. Somewhere in here i gotta wonder who (besides joseph, y all, and some local friends), just who profit by making me smarter? And exactly how can i help that who?



  4. Robert Barricklow on December 28, 2016 at 6:21 pm

    What have you, my good friends, deserved at the hands of
    Fortune, that she sends you to prison hither?

    Prison my lord?

    Some call it under moderation, although there is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so.
    To me it is prison.

    [For reply under/To be a friend fatal @ 6:05 pm]



    • Robert Barricklow on December 28, 2016 at 6:35 pm

      Upon reflection…
      caught, once again by the infamous…

      inte tyooSH(e)n
      [do not include correct spelling of above in your comments]
      or its going to be inte tyooSH(e)n alized,

      albeit moderately.



      • goshawks on December 29, 2016 at 2:40 am

        Great, Robert!



    • Roger on December 28, 2016 at 7:24 pm

      I feel like I’m a test subject for a moderation program designer, but at least Joseph does post most of them eventually. For legal reasons and lack of time to watch the posts 24/7 and get anything done it’s probably necessary. Just wish there was a cheaper, better automatic moderation program out there for him that isn’t so politically correct and gunho.



      • Robert Barricklow on December 28, 2016 at 8:50 pm

        Too commercialized and controlled by the PTB. They institute these attacks and then say you have tp protect your sites by buying their moderate protects of protection. Another protection racket of the 21st century.



      • goshawks on December 29, 2016 at 2:30 am

        Roger, if you want others to see your comments after Dr. Farrell has posted more pages, you can post a link directly to that comment on the current page. Even if lazy, many people will click on the link out of curiosity. This beats the “out-of-sight, out-of-mind” control system…



        • goshawks on December 29, 2016 at 2:36 am

          Just right-click on the date under your name for that comment, and click on the “Copy Link Location” or equivalent. Paste it into the ‘notification’ comment.

          For example, the other comment on modding that I posted for you was at:
          https://gizadeathstar.com/2016/12/aftermath-onsen-summit-japan-russia-ink-billions-deals/#comment-69441



          • Roger on December 29, 2016 at 8:41 am

            Thanks Goshawks, I haven’t tried that. The funny thing is, the more tptb attack free speech the more convinced people become that they are right and that the tptb are indeed guilty of everything they are being accused of. It also makes people more determined to get the message out than they otherwise would be. It will all back fire on them.



  5. DownunderET on December 28, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    Once again Russia is openly doing trade deals, and Putin is seen as a great statesman offering olive branches, where “you know who” is offering war. Now the stumbling block here is the EU and those Russians sanctions. I’ll bet those Russian sanctions will come crashing down once Trump takes his seat in the oval office.
    The EU cannot afford to keep the sanctions, it’s costing them lots of money, and let’s face it, the EU wants more trade just like anybody else would. So Mr. EU, stand up and spit in the eye of the “enforcer”.



    • Roger on December 28, 2016 at 7:08 pm

      Actually those that head the EU want less trade. They want more austerity. Russia was bucking austerity so sanctions were an attempt to do it for them. According to think tanks we were going through the world’s resources too fast and for long term interests had to slow it down. I suspect that was just an excuse because there are many other options, namely making better products made to last and recycling everything. The real goal is the power to abuse and reduce the pop because they want a less populated planet and more power over their subjects and saving the planet is the meme presented to hide their real goals.



  6. Robert Barricklow on December 28, 2016 at 11:58 am

    Countries are starting to realize:
    To be an enemy of U.S./Israel is dangerous;
    To be a friend is fatal.



    • Robert Barricklow on December 28, 2016 at 6:05 pm

      Although a simple analogy, there is method in this madness. A madness that aligns power against the living.
      Shakespeare’s coins it well/He’s[King Lear] mad that trusts in the tameness of the wolf. This wolf in analogue clothing script; these corporate bots are also the equivalent of invaders. Although they are entirely of human creation[?], we had best view and deal with these money seeking corporate robots. Eliminate them with institutions accountable to deeply democratic living Earth communities. To have one system of corporate robots fighting another analogous system aligned with the same institutional money seeking corporate bots is madness. These invading bit/byte wolves creating money through the manipulation of financial markets unrelated to creating anything of real values are phantom wealth wolves. A true system of wealth values people & nature.
      This battle/war is between the power of living systems
      and the inhuman corporate robots that treat Earth as if it were a dead rock.
      It is pure madness to support such a system.



      • Roger on December 29, 2016 at 8:48 am

        I agree, but how else will they get enough fiat money to buy up the entire planet and force the rest of us to become their serfs and property as well to do whatever bad thing they want with us once again?



  7. marcos toledo on December 28, 2016 at 11:45 am

    Japan is tied to China culturally to Korea by kinship Russia geographically. And it time for it to cease being a vassal of the CSA it time to repair it relations with it’s immediate neighbors for their combined benefit.



  8. Neru on December 28, 2016 at 11:28 am

    I would like to see the faces of the EU delegates when they normalize trade relations with Russia and they are no more. Some relations might be restored by Russia’s willingness to reach out to countries like Italy, maybe France.

    I frankly don’t think they need it anymore. It seems Russia has become stronger economically internally by the stupid sanctions. The future for the EU, if there is any, groveling, groveling and groveling.



  9. Roger on December 28, 2016 at 9:30 am

    Are under moderation notices now being moderated?



    • goshawks on December 29, 2016 at 2:20 am

      Roger, I noticed when under my ‘siege’ that any further-comment that Replied to a modded comment was also invisible. Log out, and the further-comment disappears as well. Clever. That was why I placed my ‘notice of moderation’ as a totally-separate comment. It was the only way others could see it…



  10. DanaThomas on December 28, 2016 at 8:38 am

    Oops! Another earthquake near Fukushima…



  11. Kahlypso on December 28, 2016 at 7:07 am

    Hang on a minute.. Going from bitter rivals over lumps of rock and mud in the sea.. These two have been giving each over the cold shoulder for half a century, then within a week, go to best buddies ever, billions of dollars and joint ventures into drilling the oceans up north….
    What the heck was said in that meeting.. and why the need to move so fast?
    I guess the Japanese have become ‘agreement capable’



    • Eve Leung on December 28, 2016 at 8:17 am

      I could be wrong, but still, the relationship between China and Japan more or less like brothers hate each other to their dead, mostly due to the Chinese influence over Japanese culture as well as their history which makes some Japan as a proud nation not feeling very comfortable about. This struggle not just happen in recent years, it can be trace hundreds of years ago, this also the reason Japan invaded China NOT once, but three times, however the previous two times, they never made it into the border of China, only landed in Korea.

      Also Japanese know that the Chinese are anything but Gentleman, they will take their vengeance on Japan if they given a chance. Without a stable powerful nation to back them up, they will be constantly live in fear under the shadow of the Chinese LOL Why China constantly threaten use violent to take over Taiwan, I suspect they are not only threaten the Taiwan government, it also kind of showing it off to Japan LOL.

      Since USA is now losing her power and influence, they are DESPERATELY look for someone else to fill the position which strong enough to counter China, India? Forget it, Russia is the best choice at least from now, give up the negotiations power over a small island to protect the main island’s safety and best interest is a smarter move , it is not uncommon in ancient time some King or warlord give up a piece of land in exchange for military support, protection or other means.



      • Kahlypso on December 28, 2016 at 2:48 pm

        Dont underestimate the power of a grudge.

        http://americanfreepress.net/secret-wwii-gold-hoard-changed-the-world/

        Japan was allied with the Nazi’s during WW2 because they shared a similier ‘Im purer than thou’ attitude. (and the fact that they’d already recuperated most of Germanie’s colnies in Asia after WW1 helped the natural ‘approchement’.

        It’s funny to see them seeking allies in Russia.. It almost seems that, all the past is forgotten, because we need to get a move on with making the future happen now.

        China’s gonna peeved off if Russia and Japan start getting into bed. They’re the ones who were there first.
        Or everyone is forgetting and forgiving whilst Europe breaks down into fascism and fear thy neighbor…Good job we won that war eh..



  12. WalkingDead on December 28, 2016 at 6:37 am

    Might we be seeing a case of “bad cop/good cop” playing out on the world stage as those behind the scenes attempt to bring about that NWO from the East rather than the West? The apparent self destruction of the West continues apace while the apparent build up of the East does also. The combined military might of the Chinese/Russian alliance handily offsets the failing military might of the USSA/NATO alliance whose “newest” ships/planes simply do not function as designed. This seems a bit too “coincidental”; and the West is spread a bit too thin waging war against, well, everyone in it’s attempt to control the worlds current energy supplies.
    Time will tell…



    • DanaThomas on December 28, 2016 at 8:34 am

      The story about the independent Russian clearing system seems to have gone quiet, let’s see what happens in that direction. The BRICS seem to have stalled somewhat with the currency shennanigans in India. Is Russia genuinely countering (or capabale of countering) the “Western” banking oligarchy, now desperately seeking to confiscate more and more resources?



    • Roger on December 28, 2016 at 9:20 am

      I suspect the divide is real. The new super elite global royal class have so far been unsuccessful at seizing the assets and domestic policies of Russia, China, japan, and a few other countries in the Middle East and Asia. These people really do intend to rule the entire planet and to have two distinct races in the future. There will be the white super elite global royal class and the indistinguishable lower classes of darker mix breeds of the few people they allow to survive. These other countries have too strong a cultural pride and identity and are being to resistant at losing it. One by one they will be taken down and they likely are beginning to realize their only hope is unite instead of remaining divided to be conquered. Just speculation.



    • Roger on December 28, 2016 at 9:23 am

      My reply is in mod. Globalist NWO themes are getting harder to discuss. I wonder if the Doc’s moderating algorithm is being updated for this soon to be followed by Facebook and Twitter.



    • Roger on December 28, 2016 at 9:27 am

      My reply is in mod.



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