Japan Press Weekly

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2007 February 21 - 27 [US FORCES]

Newest U.S. aircraft carrier makes port call at Sasebo

The state-of-the-art U.S. aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan on February 24 entered Sasebo Port in Nagasaki Prefecture as its first port call to Japan. In protest against this, Nagasaki’s peace and anti-nuclear weapons groups held rallies.

This port call is supposedly to maintain emergency readiness in the Western Pacific, temporarily replacing the Yokosuka-based U.S. aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk now under repair.

However, the Ronald Reagan’s port call is viewed as a step to use Sasebo Port as a quasi-homeport of U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers in accord with the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.

On February 25, the Nagasaki Federation of Trade Unions and other organizations held a protest rally. About 130 people took part and marched in a demonstration.

Japanese Communist Party Dietmember Akamine Seiken at the rally pointed out that U.S. aircraft carriers visited Sasebo three times in the past nine months. “This amounts to turning Sasebo into a forward base for U.S. wars of aggression. We will not allow Sasebo to be turned into a stronghold threatening Asia,” he stated.