The
Futenma Marine Air Base in Okinawa: The almost legendary
aggravation
of Okinawa residents with the noise of the base and
the
disruption caused by the Marines that inhabit it is creating
big
headaches for Japan's new government.
The Okinawa Times,
Japan
It's
Time to End Japan's 'Servitude to America'
"The
Noda Administration's 'servitude to America' becomes more abundantly clear with
each passing day. One can't help feeling a sense of impending crisis and
disappointment. … In this multi-polar era, it's a mistake to choose entrenched
values that place American interests and diplomacy above all else."
Japanese farmers from Miyagi Prefecture, badly hit by the tsunami last march, shout slogans against the U.S.-backed Trans-Pacific Partnership free trade zone. The sign reads, 'Protect Japanese land and food.'
It appears that the masks are
finally off. The Noda Administration's "servitude to America" becomes
more abundantly clear with each passing day. One can't help feeling a sense of impending
crisis and disappointment.
On November 12th, Prime
Minister Yoshihiko Noda
and U.S. President Barack Obama met to discuss Japan’s participation in the
Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and an environmental
impact assessment to be submitted by the Noda government to Okinawa Prefecture
this year on relocating the U.S. Marine Corp's Futenma Air
Base to Henoko in Nago City.
While reiterating its commitment
to moving the base, the Obama Administration is the party that assigned this
"homework" to Japan, and expressed expectations of "further
progress." But since talks to move the base have hardly been held at the
appropriate diplomatic levels, such promises of supposed progress will be
utterly impossible to keep.
Many Okinawa citizens ask, "Is
this false pretense really the way Foreign Minister Maehara
wants to proceed in Okinawa?"
On November 4th, Maehara,
both foreign minister and Democratic Party policy chief, "secretly"
embarked on a trip across Okinawa Prefecture. Maehara's wish to meet Okinawa Prefecture
Governor Hirokazu Nakaima caused local speculation to skyrocket.
Initially, Maehara was
supposed to travel on November 5th, but about noon on the 4th, conveniently
timed news reports said that his trip to Okinawa was canceled. On that same
evening, an unusual entry into Okinawa was reported. The deceptive travel plan,
which kept citizens and the media in the dark, was an evening flight from
Haneda Airport on the 4th. Kina Shoukichi, Democratic Party leader in Okinawa,
is said to have traveled with Mr. Maehara. It was yet another case of leaked
information from "sources" close to the meeting.
Why did Mr. Maehar, in the
midst of the maelstrom of debate over the TPP, feel the need to conduct a
"secret" visit - all the while creating suspicion among Okinawa
residents? Mr. Maehara's actions apparently reflect a desire to protect the
integrity of local governors he planned to visit. But it was a courtesy
understood and accepted as a way of adhering to the American agenda and completely
bypassing the people of Okinawa.
In the November 10th edition
of this newspaper, former diplomat Ukeru Magosaki wrote of the feeling of deja
vu that permeates the debate on both the TPP and Futenma.
The dubious logic surrounding
the Futenma debate that, "The U.S. Marines are a necessary deterrent,” in
reference to the U.S.-Japan agreement, is identical to the equally questionable
reasoning regarding the TPP: that to "revitalize its economy," Japan's
participation in the TPP is essential. The recrimination and division over the
TPP comes from supporters of the U.S.-led effort. They blame former Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama's policy of condemning the situation, but tolerating America's military
presence as long as it remained outside Okinawa.
At the Japan-U.S. summit in
September, Prime Minister Noda, who has put great effort into backing Japan's
participation in the TPP as well as advocating the relocation of Futenma, made
a snap decision for cabinet members to visit Okinawa to implement the "assignment"
given him by Washington.
Posted
by WORLDMEETS.US
In this multi-polar era, it's
a mistake to choose entrenched values that place American interests and
diplomacy above all else. From this period on, this is a common layer of danger
when it comes to political philosophy.
At an Okinawa Prefecture
conference on November 14th, a written opinion seeking the abandonment of the
environmental impact assessment for the Futenma relocation will be proposed to
a special meeting of the Diet where it is expected to pass unanimously.
This movement should be
extended to include ever city and community within the prefecture. It is essential
that the prefecture's citizens express a strong political will so that they are
heard by politicians who are on the fence and have stopped even thinking about
the issue.
