Otaru City refuses U.S. warship’s visit to its port

   The government of Otaru City in Hokkaido on January 28 announced that it has turned down a request for a port call of the USS Blue Ridge, the U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet flagship, at Otaru Port between February 7 and 11 for ostensibly technical reasons.

   It is impossible to accept the U.S. vessel because all piers are fully reserved for freighters and containerships during the period, the city said.

   Saito Yutaka, secretary general of the National Confederation of Trade Unions (Zenroren)-affiliated Otaru-roren, said, “We have repeatedly carried out protest actions and made representations to the city requesting it to reject the entry of warships into the commercial port. I believe that our efforts had an influence and that the city has taken into account the residents’ opposition. We will make this known to the residents.”

   Japanese Communist Party Otaru City Assembly member Kitano Yoshinori said, “The city cites commercial use of piers as the reason, but I think this is in effect a refusal of U.S. warship’s entry into the port. We will keep active until the city, which has declared itself a peaceful city free of nuclear weapons, openly refuses port calls of any U.S. warship.”

   According to a secret Foreign Ministry document exposed by Ryukyu Shimpo, an Okinawan daily, the Japanese and U.S. governments agreed that the U.S. military has the priority in the use of Otaru and Muroran ports. U.S. warships have actually visited Otaru Port every year.

   The U.S. Navy Seventh Fleet Aegis destroyer John S. McCain will also enter Ishikari Bay New Port located in Ishikari and Otaru cities at around the same time.
- Akahata, January 29, 2008