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To: goldsnow who wrote (7842)	2/24/1998 7:02:00 AM
From: Bobby Yellin	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116874

wonder how dependent SE Asia's recovery is on Japan's recovery.. I thought it was very important.. wonder how high the dollar can go now and how low gold will go.. wonder if this will add more hot air to the stock market bubble in US wonder how many more palaces S.H. will build with possible new flow of money into country thanks to U.N. (if they were just trying to avoid having civilians killed it would be worth it..S.H. reminds me of a New York roach :> ) wonder how the markets will react to merger nonmerger news of the big drug companies

To: goldsnow who wrote (7842)	2/24/1998 6:47:00 PM
From: goldsnow	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 116874

Oil for Gold? How about new era of bartering? Who needs $? New era seen in improved Japan-Russia relations 06:39 a.m. Feb 24, 1998 Eastern By Janet Snyder TOKYO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - There's a lot more to the improvement in relations between Russia and Japan than four small islands and a lot of fish. Analysts believe the rapprochement between two neighbours still technically at war represents a major departure from emotive territorial rhetoric in favour of practicality. Japanese Foreign Minister Keizo Obuchi came home from a weekend trip to Moscow with a deal which gives Japan greater access to the rich fishing grounds controlled by Russia just north of the island of Hokkaido. Even more significantly in the view of analysts, Japan offered Russia a rare untied loan, worth $1.5 billion. The assistance will come within the framework of the World Bank's programme to support Moscow's market reforms. The Kremlin said the money would be used to build homes for military officers being pensioned off as part of ambitious plans to modernise and streamline Russia's huge armed forces. Japan usually offers loans tied to purchases from Japanese firms. ''This is one great, solid step signalling improvement in relations,'' said Russian affairs scholar Nobuo Shimotomai of Tokyo's Hosei University. The two sides have snarled at each other for decades across the Sea of Japan, stoking wartime memories of Japanese invasion and Russian internment of defeated troops of Emperor Hirohito. One of those memories is the seizure just after World War Two of four small Japanese islands north of Hokkaido by Soviet troops. Tokyo demands their return, and the issue remains the key stumbling block to completing a peace treaty to officially end World War Two hostilities. But practicality reigned and the islands were not a focus of Obuchi's mission, analysts said. ''That was a fortunate circumstance, and it's better that they focused more on economic development than on the islands,'' Shimotomai said. Instead, Japan trained its eyes squarely on the prospect of developing the Ponderosa of oil and gas resources just across the water in Siberia. One ambitious project under discussion is a giant $10 billion pipeline to haul Siberian natural gas from the Irkutsk region across vast expanses of China, Mongolia and South Korea to Japan. In Siberia's Sakhalin island lie still more deposits of oil that Japanese developers are poised to explore. ''This is a deal where everybody wins -- Japan gets the resources it sorely needs without having to go all the way to the Middle East, and Russia gets the money,'' said Harumi Tokunaga, a commentator on Russian affairs. But not everybody in the halls of Japanese government is thrilled about the latest chapter of improved ties, analysts said. ''The Foreign Ministry hates the idea of rapprochement,'' said a Tokyo-based political analyst who declined to be identified. ''Because what else is there now for the entire conceptual framework of Japan-Russia relations without the Cold War?'' Shimotomai of Hosei University agreed, saying that the ministry still harbours its share of Cold Warriors who reflexively mistrust Russia. But at least at the top they're putting a good face on it. Foreign Ministry spokesman Sadaaki Numata told reporters on Tuesday: ''We're satisfied. (Foreign Minister) Obuchi said he was very satisfied, said it was the sort of response he wished for, and was satisfied with the meetings.'' Russian president Boris Yeltsin and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto met in the Siberian town of Krasnoyarsk and agreed to work to conclude a peace treaty by the year 2000. Asked whether Japan has ''softened'' its stance towards Russia during the weekend talks, Numata said, ''At Krasnoyarsk, we agreed to the need for mutual trust, mutual benefit, and need to take things in the long term. ''That approach has had a positive effect on (bilateral) relationship.'' The two leaders are set to meet at a Japanese hot springs resort April 11-14 to continue their dialogue. As to when those four little islands might return to the Japanese fold, there seemed little chance it would happen this year, analysts said. Commentator Tokunaga thought it would have to wait until Russian parliamentary elections in 2000. He believed the body would by then have a much larger complement of reformers, and conservatives who oppose returning territory to Japan could be on the decline. Shimotomai of Hosei University said one interesting proposal under consideration is a Hong Kong-style lease on the islands, which would revert to Japanese control at a defined time. ((Tokyo Newsroom +81-3 3432 8018 tokyo.newsroom+reuters.com)) ^REUTERS@