In a recent Sunday TV talk program, commentator, writer and former Japanese Cabinet minister Taiichi Sakaiya queried Foreign Minister Taro Aso about the recent incident involving the Russian capture of a Japanese fishing boat. The boat was caught poaching in Russian-controlled waters near the Habomai islands at the southern end of the Kurile Island chain to the east of Hokkaido.

One crew member was killed. The remaining three were taken into Russian custody. The Foreign Ministry was demanding their immediate release, claiming the boat was in waters over which Japan has legitimate claim.

Sakaiya said nothing about whether the claim was legitimate. He simply noted that China has managed to settle 32 territorial disputes with its neighbors. Meanwhile Japan's territory settlements with neighbors totaled zero. The usually talkative Aso responded rather grimly by saying that Japan's territory problems were different from China's.