In a strange historical twist, given the Crimean annexation, after the Japanese citizens native to the Northern Territories were killed or expelled, many Ukrainians were brought to the islands during the Soviet years, and still live there. If an independence referendum were to be held on Etorofu Island, where some 60% of the inhabitants have roots in Ukraine, I wonder whether Putin would accept the result as readily as he did the ballot in Crimea, undertaken at the barrel of a gun?
这是一个奇怪的历史扭曲。在日本北方四岛被占领后，岛上的日本原住民或者被杀，或者被逐，而许多乌克兰人在苏联时代移民到这些岛上，至今仍生活在那里。而现在，克里米亚也被吞并了。如果在乌克兰裔居民占60%的择捉岛举行独立公投，我怀疑普京还能不能像接受拿枪顶着的克里米亚公投结果那样踌躇满志。