Japan Press Weekly

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2013 March 20 - 26 [US FORCES]

JCP protests against US cluster bombing exercise in Okinawa

The Japanese Communist Party Okinawa Prefectural Committee on March 21 petitioned the Foreign Ministry Okinawa Office against the U.S. military’s exercise using cluster bombs and to demand a halt to the training exercise.

On March 14 and 15, FA-18 fighter jets based at the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station (Yamaguchi Prefecture) dropped cluster bombs in the sea near Okinawa that the U.S. military designates as its training site.

In the meeting with a ministry official, the JCP representatives said, “The Japanese government has taken an active stance toward the abolition and prohibition of cluster munitions. It should urge the U.S. forces to stop training exercises using cluster bombs in Japan without delay.”

Deputy chief of the office Matsuda Ken’ichi replied, “The U.S. military states that it is not possible to give the details concerning the exercise and any bombs used in the exercise. We, however, will ask them to refrain from using the bomb in question at every occasion.”