BEIJING, August 14. /TASS/. China calls on Japan to honor the results of World War II, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said, commenting on Tokyo’s protest against Russian President Vladimir Putin’s trip to the Kuril Island of Iturup.

"The Chinese side insists that Japan honor the international order that was established after World War II in such international legal documents as the Cairo Declaration and Potsdam Manifesto," he said in a commentary that was posted on the ministry’s website.

Beijing, in his words, is committed to the stance that "the results of the victory in the world anti-Nazi war must be respected and defended."

On August 13, Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time visited the Kuril Island of Iturup. Before that, Russian heads of state and government had visited the Kuril Islands five times. Dmitry Medvedev made trips there four times: in 2010, when he was Russian president, and in 2012, 2015, and 2019, when he was prime minister. In 2021, Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin visited Iturup.

Russia and Japan have been negotiating a post-World War II peace treaty since the mid-20th century. The main stumbling block is the issue of who owns the South Kuril Islands. After the end of World War II, all Kuril Islands were incorporated into the Soviet Union. However, Japan claimed the Iturup, Kunashir, Shikotan islands and a number of uninhabited islands of the Lesser Kuril Ridge called the Habomai Islands in Japan as its own.

In 1956, the Soviet Union and Japan signed a joint declaration on ceasing the state of war. The two countries resumed diplomatic and other relations, but have still not signed a peace treaty.

The Russian foreign ministry has repeatedly said that Russia’s sovereignty over the Kuril Islands is not up for debate, as international agreements stipulate that they belong to Russia.