Wind of Change

It was unseasonably warm and the sky was clear blue. In meteorological and in diplomatic terms, there was a thaw in the air last week when Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze arrived in Tokyo to begin a five-day visit, the first to Japan by a Soviet Foreign Minister since Andrei Gromyko, now the Soviet President, stepped on Japanese soil ten years ago. The latest visitor set an optimistic note, declaring his hope that the two nations will be blown closer together by a "wind of change."

Many Japanese, however, had different ideas: fleets of sound trucks manned by Japanese right-wing activists roamed the streets, their huge loudspeakers blaring anti-Soviet slogans. The demonstrations were largely directed at the Soviet refusal to return four Japanese islands in the Kurile group, seized in 1945 and now used as military bases. This was only one of the issues separating the two sides. Perenially tense relations have been worsened by such events as the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and the shooting down of Korean Air Lines Flight 007 in September 1983. But although the talks seemed to be important more for their symbolism than their substance, they held the promise of less icy relations.

At the talks, the Soviets protested the U.S. deployment of F-16 fighters in northern Japan and urged Tokyo to consider carefully any participation in the U.S. Strategic Defense Initiative, or Star Wars, program. The Japanese, led by Foreign Secretary Shintaro Abe, countered by expressing "strong regret" over the Soviet military buildup in the northwestern Pacific, including the deployment of an estimated 135 SS-20 intermediate-range nuclear missiles. Discussions on economic matters proved more constructive. The two countries signed a pact governing taxes on Soviet-Japanese trade and agreed to meet annually for talks on development projects in Siberia.

Tokyo's major interest was in the return of the occupied Kurile islands, a subject that Moscow has long chosen to ignore. The Japanese made it clear that any final communique that failed to include the topic would be unacceptable. At the end of last week the Soviets appeared ready to make an oblique reference to the dispute in a joint statement. The new Soviet approach to Japan appears to be largely due to Soviet Leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who is believed to be anxious to improve his country's image in Asia generally. Relations with China have improved, Soviet influence has increased over North Korea, and Moscow has tried to mend its fences with the six-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations. As one U.S. diplomat recalls being told last fall by a Soviet counterpart, "Look out in Asia now. We have a man who is interested in Asia. America is in for some challenges."