Japanese Cabinet Secretary Calls Ex-PM's Visit to Crimea ‘Thoughtless’

Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga called a visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to Crimea, which rejoined Russia in a referendum, "a thoughtless move."

TOKYO (Sputnik) – A visit by former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to Crimea is a thoughtless move, and runs contrary to current Tokyo foreign policy, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said Wednesday.

In March 2014 Crimea rejoined Russia in a referendum that resolved over 96 percent of the population of the region voting in favor of breaking away from Ukraine. Many countries, including Japan, did not legally recognize the vote and accused Russia of merely annexing the peninsula.

Hatoyama, who served as prime minister between 2009 and 2010, arrived in Crimea on Tuesday to "look what the local residents indeed feel” about the March 2014 reunification with Russia.

“The visit to Crimea of a politician, who used to serve as prime minister, is an extremely thoughtless move, which is deeply regretful,” Suga said at a press conference in Tokyo.

Vice President of the Liberal Democratic Party Masahiko Komura said that Hatoyama’s Crimea visit could be "misleading to the international community,” and does not correspond to the official stance of Japanese foreign relations.

Japanese opposition politicians offered similar opinions to that of the ruling coalition.

On Friday, the Japanese Foreign Ministry strongly recommended that Hatoyama should cancel his three day visit to Crimea.

Yukio Hatoyama, who heads a Russian-Japanese friendship club and chairs an annual festival of Russian culture, is expected to meet with the Crimean leadership later during the week.