Jiang Zemin's visit to America overshadowed another important summit - that in Siberia between Russia's Boris Yeltsin and Japanese Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto. But the "other summit" was such a success that Russia and Japan may soon even agree to the end of World War II.
Improbably, no peace treaty has been signed between the two WWII belligerents because of the bleak Kuril Islands. For centuries the two nations split ownership of the 750-mile-long chain, but in 1945 came the Stalin Corollary to what might be called the Archie Bunker Doctrine. The United States, Archie corrected his son-in-law, did not "steal" Texas from Mexico. Rather (to paraphrase), "after we beat hail Columbia out of 'em, they was glad to give it to us." In the case of the Kurils, America did the beating, via the atomic bomb. Stalin declared war on a collapsing Japan and seized the Kurils as booty.The swipe has stuck in the craw of the Japanese, especially since 1973, when that great peacemaker, Leonid Brezhnev, declared the Kurils inalienable Soviet property. In Siberia, a Yeltsin underling explained that the Russian constitution barred the president from shrinking national borders. Japan, without much of an offensive military force, is in no position to appeal that interpretation to the highest court - the court of arms.
But the two sides did agree to keep at the problem, if only because normal relations would give Japan greater access to Russian natural resources and Russia more Japanese investment dollars. Yeltsin and Hashimoto hope even to sign a peace treaty by 2000. It's comforting to know they won't fight World War III over World War II.