JCP Shii calls for return of Yokosuka Port from U.S. Forces

The USS Kitty Hawk came back to its homeport at the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base on June 11 after a three-month voyage.

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo used his speech at a JCP public assembly in Yokohama City the same day to call for the return of the Yokosuka base from U.S. Forces.

Shii questioned, "Is it reasonable for us to allow the U.S. Forces to continue to use Yokosuka as a homeport for the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet in the 21st century?"

To show how unreasonable it is for the U.S. Forces to continue to occupy Yokosuka as a homeport of U.S. aircraft carriers, he cited three problems: the U.S. Forces deceived the local people to hold on to the base; they are responsible for the pollution and crimes related to the base; and the Yokosuka base is used as a U.S. overseas stepping stone for its global military interventions.

When the U.S. Navy began using the port in 1973, it proposed a vaguely worded three-year limit to its use. Also, there were agreements that no alternative facility or site would be provided and that the Atsugi Naval Air Station would not be used for the U.S Forces' flight exercises.

But the U.S. broke all of these agreements, Shii stressed.

In the passed 28 years, in addition to the Kitty Hawk, the USS Midway and the Independence have been based at the port, supporting low flight altitude exercises at the Atsugi Naval Air Station by fighter aircraft attached to these vessels. In 1999, the Kitty Hawk participated in the U.S. attack of Iraq from the base. Furthermore, a plan is proposed aimied at reinforcing the port as a base for U.S. nuclear warships by 2008. (end)