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Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Yokosuka mayor accepts U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier deployment

Yokosuka Mayor Kabaya Ryoichi on June 14 expressed his acceptance of the deployment of the U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington to the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture.

The United States last October announced that it will deploy the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in 2008 to Yokosuka replacing the conventional-powered carrier Kitty Hawk. Although Kabaya had initially expressed his disapproval of the plan, the Japanese and U.S. governments repeatedly pressured him to accept it.

The opinion poll taken by a local paper showed that more than 60 percent of respondents in Yokosuka City are opposed to the deployment due to their concern about nuclear accidents.

On the same day, the Japanese Communist Party Kanagawa Prefectural Committee and the JCP Yokosuka City Assembly members group published a statement urging Mayor Kabaya to withdraw his approval. Pointing out that he won the mayoral election by expressing his opposition to the deployment of a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, it criticized him for breaking his election promise.

With the deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to Yokosuka, the U.S. Forces intend to "ensure the viability of a long-term forward deployment." An aircraft carrier battle group plays a vital role in the U.S. global-scale preemptive attack strategy.

The deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier will open a path for the U.S. to permanently use Yokosuka as the only foreign homeport of an aircraft carrier.

It will also expose Japan's capital region to the danger of nuclear accidents.
- Akahata, June 15, 2006