  All U.S.-held air traffic control must be returned to Japan -- Akahata editorial, January 26 (excerpts)The Japanese and U.S. governments agreed last December that Japan would regain control of airspace around the Okinawa main island, the so-called Kadena Rapcon (Kadena radar approach control) now managed by the U.S. Air Force, by the end of fiscal 2007. Even after Okinawa's administrative rights were returned to Japan in 1972, the U.S. forces in Okinawa continued controlling air traffic over Okinawa, ignoring the safety of civilian aircraft. Regaining this right to control U.S. aircraft is quite natural in order to secure the safety of non-military aircraft. However, many are concerned that the U.S. forces might continue to be given priority in the use of the area's airspace even after 2008 because the U.S. government in April 2001 asked the Japanese government to ensure U.S. forces can perform their duties in an emergency. Some airline staff expressed concerns that U.S. military aircraft will take off from Okinawa to make preemptive attacks, causing civilian flights to be delayed or forced to change course. In returning Kadena Rapcon to Japan, the practice of U.S. military aircraft priority must end in Okinawa. Ministries concerned must disclose what Japan and the U.S. agreed to regarding the return of Kadena Rapcon. The vast airspace under Rapcon is still under the control of the U.S. forces. The U.S. Yokota Air Base controls the airspace over the Niigata, Shizuoka, Nagano, and Tokyo areas, seriously affecting flights from/to Haneda airport. Matsuyama airport in Western Japan is under the control of the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station. The need now is to get all U.S.-held Rapcons returned to Japan immediately so that Japan may regain the right to control its own airspace. However, dangerous U.S. aircraft flights will continue so long as U.S. bases remain in Japan. The call for the "U.S. Rapcon to be returned" should be expanded into a call for the withdrawal of U.S. bases from Japan. (end) |