On Oct. 14 Foreign Ministry spokesman Mao Ning said at a regular briefing that a
Heilongjiang provincial delegation recently visited Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, capital
of Russia’s Sakhalin Oblast, for sister-province exchanges. In response to a
KYODO question about reports the delegation had visited disputed islands
(Russian Southern Kurils; Japanese Northern Territories), Mao said the visit was
to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk. She declined to comment on commercial activities by
private firms during the trip.
