China's telecommunication giant Huawei Technologies Co has won a contract to conduct survey and design work for laying an undersea fiber-optic cable linking communities on Sakhalin and islands controlled by Russia but claimed by Japan, according to media reports on Thursday. Huawei won the contract from Rostelecom, a Russian government-affiliated company.
Japan has been trying to retrieve the so-called "Northern Territories," which are now under Russian control and known as the Southern Kuril Islands in Russia.
Russia and Japan have sought to realize joint economic activities in the region following a meeting last year of both countries' leaders.
