[21] in peace2
future of Okinawa
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (F. AuYeung)
Fri Jan 14 16:08:32 2000
Message-Id: <200001142108.QAA24523@e51-075-1.mit.edu>
To: peace2@MIT.EDU
cc: chongga@juno.com, Choffman@ci.cambridge.ma.us, jgerson@afsc.org
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 16:08:16 -0500
From: "F. AuYeung" <auyeung@MIT.EDU>
Following up on our Okinawa session, here is a current article
about the military base, a possible relocation, and the upcoming
G8 conference in Japan. Some comments *** are interjected:
------- Forwarded Message
From: "George Curran" <georgecurran@mailcity.com>
To: chongga@juno.com
Date: Fri, 14 Jan 2000 07:59:14 -0500
Subject: Re: boston-okinawa network
Here is an article we posted on Lycos this morning. You may be
interested for your archives.
US Marine Arrested in Okinawa for Attempted Rape
Friday, January 14, 2000
By Linda Sieg
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese police arrested a U.S. marine on
Friday for the alleged attempted rape of a local woman on the
southern island of Okinawa, scene of a rape five years ago that
ignited bitter protests against the U.S. military presence.
The incident comes as Japan seeks to finalize a controversial plan
to relocate part of a U.S. base to the city that is set to host a
Group of Eight (G8) summit in July.
The marine, Oswald McDonald, 29, allegedly attempted to rape the
woman at a disco in Okinawa City, but she resisted and was
unhurt, an Okinawa Prefecture police spokesman said.
U.S. military police were notified and contacted the Japanese
police, who arrested McDonald at the scene, the spokesman added.
A spokeswoman for the U.S. Marines in Okinawa -- home to the
bulk of the U.S. military forces in Japan --- confirmed the arrest
but said she had no comment at present.
Kyodo news agency said the arrest was the first of a U.S. military
personnel since a four-year self-imposed curfew on night activities
by servicemen was lifted last October.
OKINAWA KEY TO G8 SUMMIT SUCCESS
Japan is gearing up for the July G8 summit, where Prime Minister
Keizo Obuchi hopes to demonstrate Tokyo's global and regional
leadership and boost the chances that his ruling party does well in
Lower House elections that must be held this year.
One key to that success, however, is the smooth implementation
of a plan to move helicopter facilities at the U.S. Marine base in
Futenma on Okinawa to Nago city, the site of the G8 summit.
*** What does doing well in elections mean? The
*** people who are or will be affected by the bases
*** voted overwhelmingly against them, yet their
*** opinion is ignored because they are only a
*** minority of the population, and in a democracy,
*** the majority of people who don't have to deal
*** with the bases in their back yards don't care
*** enough to fight against the bases.
***
*** I think it is absolutely critical that the people
*** of Japan, all of them, have to imagine themselves
*** in their neighbors' shoes and take a stance. Then,
*** if the politicians want to "do well" in their
*** elections, they will have to make their decisions
*** based on fairness as directed by the people.
President Clinton has said he wants outstanding issues concerning
the bases tidied up before he arrives at the July gathering of
leaders from the world's seven leading economic powers and Russia.
Activists in Okinawa, however, have vowed to fight the plan.
About 28,000 military personnel, mostly U.S. Marines, are
stationed on Okinawa and more than 75 percent of all U.S. military
facilities in Japan are there.
*** 28,000 military personnel, and their associated
*** equipment, weapons, crime, during a time of peace?
*** As Americans, we have to protest this gross
*** priority of how the government spends our tax
*** dollars (topic for Jan. 27), as well as confront
*** the menace US bases create on foreign lands. It
*** should NOT take a rape to bring these issues to
*** the attention of people nor the media!
The heliport plan, backed by Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine but
not yet a done deal, is part of a 1996 pact with Washington aimed
at defusing local resentment at the heavy concentration of U.S.
military on the southern island.
The 1995 rape of a Japanese school girl by three U.S. servicemen
fanned that longstanding resentment and seriously jolted
U.S.-Japan security ties. The three were sentenced to up to
seven years in jail for the abduction and rape of the 12-year-old
girl.
Finalizing the heliport move is a must to ensure the summit does
not embarrass either Obuchi or Clinton, analysts say.
But a serious sticking point still stands in the way of agreement on
the proposal, which would shift the facility to a joint U.S.
military-Japanese civilian airport that would be built off the coastal
district of Henoko in Nago city.
Inamine, Nago city mayor Tateo Kishimoto and the Nago city
assembly insist that U.S. military use of the new facility be limited
to 15 years -- a demand the U.S. side reportedly rejects.
"The key is how to manage the 15-year time limit," said Satoshi
Morimoto, a former foreign ministry official now at Nomura
Research Institute. "The time limit is an election pledge for Inamine
and a precondition for the Nago Assembly."
"If there is no compromise, the U.S. president cannot come to the
summit because of huge demonstrations," he added.
*** I applaud Inamine's attempt to keep his election
*** pledge, even if it were a compromise to begin
*** with. There had better be HUGE demonstrations
*** in Japan, and here as well, if the US impose thier
*** wishes on the people who must bare the blow.
Nago residents in 1997 voted overwhelmingly against a proposal
for a floating heliport off the city's coast after environmentalists
and local fishing cooperatives opposed the idea.
*** A terrible way to end the article: as if only
*** environmentalists and fisherpeople opposed the
*** military base!! This is such a typical way the
*** media purposefully not give credit to the peace
*** and justice movement, which is at the heart of
*** the whole opposition in the first place!
------- End of Forwarded Message
*** The idea of justice is never confined to singular issues. And in
*** addressing Okinawa and Nago City's problems with US military bases,
*** it becomes highly appropriate to address other issues.
***
*** First, there is the rebuilding of the Japanese military. I think
*** one of the reasons why mainland Japan and its policy makers
*** continue to maintain a US-Japan military pact at the expense of
*** some of its citizens, is to distract from Japan's own military,
*** one that started with decimation and is now full and modern, and
*** enough to cause a stir in the islands off Taiwan. My perception
*** is that Japanese fleet basically took over an island occupied by
*** Taiwanese fisherpeople. The event was not publicized only because
*** of political reasons involving Taiwan, Japan, and China.
***
*** So Japan has a military; what's the big deal? The Japanese
*** government is also one and the same as the government that never
*** made official recognition, let alone apology or compensation, for
*** the atrocities its military caused during World War II. While
*** Germany now mandates education to include Nazi terrors in history
*** books and courses, a first-line barrier against the rise of
*** neo-nazism, Japan still avoids responsibility for the systemic
*** execution of tens of millions Chinese civilians, and dares to
*** even deny the Nanking Massacre (true to every worst imaginable
*** sense of the word) ever occurred!
***
*** My advocacy for justice has crossed every boundary; but in this
*** case, there is an actual, personal connection. My mother was a
*** baby, clinging on to her mother's back, when her family was
*** literally running as fast as they could away from their home and
*** belongings in Nanking, as soldiers were sweeping the city and
*** stories of horrendous acts of inhumanity were communicated.
*** Personal or not, it is absolutely necessary for Japanese people,
*** most of whom are not responsible for the actual crime, to admit
*** the truth, because such a recognition will not just root out the
*** war criminals from their positions of prejudice and power, but
*** form the basis of civil society that can prevent such a slaughter
*** from happening again.
***
*** Felix
