Analysis: China defies Mao's support for Japan in Russia islands row

Xi Jinping finds a new cudgel to use on Japan: Mao Zedong's stance backing Japan's claim on four islands that Russia administers. Above, Russian President Vladimir Putin samples salmon roe at a fish-processing plant on one of the disputed islands in the company of workers. (Nikkei montage/Source photos by Reuters and TASS/Kyodo) A subtle shift in stance comes as Beijing-Moscow partnership deepens Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief and was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize.