The events of Sept. 11 have at least done some good. To bolster its war on "terrorism," the United States seems willing finally to put an end to its highly contrived legacy of Cold War, anti-Beijing policies. Meanwhile, Japan may be ready to end its highly contrived, 50-year Cold War dispute with Moscow over the so-called Northern Territories -- four disputed island territories east of Hokkaido that were occupied by the Soviet Union in 1945.
Reports says Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi will backtrack on his earlier rejection of former Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori's proposed "two islands" solution to the dispute, under which the Habomai islets and Shikotan Island would be returned to Japan in exchange for a much-delayed World War II peace treaty with Moscow. The fate of the two larger islands in dispute, Kunashiri and Etorofu, would be decided later.
Common sense endorses the Mori approach. At the 1951 San Francisco peace treaty talks with the Allied powers, Japan was told it could have no islands whatsoever. The treaty unambiguously says that Japan renounces all right, claim and title to the Kuril Islands, including all the islands now in dispute.