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Japan Press Weekly

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New government in dealing with U.S. must adhere to Okinawan demand for no new air base
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates visited Japan to urge the new government led by the Democratic Party of Japan to implement the Japan-U.S. agreement on a new U.S. base in Okinawa.

He held talks separately with Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio, Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya, and Defense Minister Kitazawa Toshimi on October 20 and 21.

Suggesting the possibility of moving the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab runway site a little farther from the coastline of Nago City than the original plan, Gates pressed the Japanese government to stick to the agreement to construct the new USMC air base.

The new air base plan faces opposition from many Okinawans, and Hatoyama has stated that the USMC Futenma air station should be moved out of Okinawa and even out of Japan if possible.

The government intends to delay its decision on the new air base issue, but Okinawans want the government to meet the demand of Okinawans without delay.

In 1996, Japan and the United States at their joint Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) agreed to relocate the Futenma base to another location in Okinawa. Thirteen years later, Okinawans continue to block construction work from starting for the new base. The SACO agreement has obviously failed.

In an Okinawa Times-Asahi Shimbun survey last May, 68 percent of respondents said “No” to relocation of the USMC base within Okinawa, while only 18 percent said “Yes.”

The Liberal Democratic Party and the Komei Party lost their absolute majority in the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly in the 2008 election. In the House of Representatives general election last August, they lost all their seats in the Okinawa constituencies.

Contrary to the former LDP-Komei coalition government’s explanation that the new air base would help reduce Okinawans’ burden associated with the base, the new base, if constructed, will force nearby residents to endure even more noise pollution from sonic booms caused by U.S. military aircraft. The danger of plane crashes will also increase as the U.S. forces will deploy tilt-rotor Ospray aircraft, which has so far been shown to be many accident-prone. Dugongs, a rare sea mammal, will be endangered, and rich marine resources will be destroyed.

Okinawans know that U.S. bases in Okinawa have been used, under the SACO agreement, as a stepping-stone for U.S. military intervention in Iraq and elsewhere. Okinawans, who experienced the tragedy of the Battle of Okinawa, will not continue to allow U.S. forces to strengthen their strongholds for wars abroad.

Gates stated in Tokyo, “Our view is [that] this may not be the perfect alternative for anyone, but it is the best alternative for everyone, and it is time to move on.” However, if he respects the majority voice of Okinawans, the United States should agree to scrap the relocation plan.

He also threatened Okinawans by stating, “Without the Futenma [replacement] facility, there will be no relocation to Guam. And without relocation to Guam, there will be no consolidation of forces and return of land in Okinawa.” However, they will never yield to such lawless pressure.

Now that the LDP-Komei government is gone, the new government is called upon to review the SACO agreement.

If the new government under Prime Minister Hatoyama, as supporter of the Japan-U.S. military alliance, accepts the plan to construct the new air base, it will betray not only Okinawans but the Japanese people.

We urge the government to force the U.S. to abandon its Futenma Air Station without condition and to not relocate it within Okinawa.

- Akahata, October 22, 2009