  U.S. forces' priority use of Japan's air and sea ports destroys peace and autonomyAkahata editorial The Japanese and U.S. governments are studying the feasibility of giving the right to the U.S. armed forces to use Japan's civil sea and air ports in the event of "situations in areas surrounding Japan." Defense Agency Director General Ono Yoshinori said on April 12 that the talks are in progress, though he said that concrete steps have not yet been discussed. The term "situations in areas surrounding Japan" implies a state of war which has nothing to do with the defense of Japan, in which Japan will be asked to cooperate with U.S. wars under the logic that adverse effects against the United States should be prevented even though there is no attack on Japan. It is unjustifiable for the government to allow the U.S. forces to authoritatively use Japan's civil air and sea ports in order for them to fight wars abroad. To break legal restrictions The moves to set up a Japan-U.S. joint war posture have entered a stage that has never been before, with a joint war plan formulated to carry out wars in "situations in areas surrounding Japan" and in a contingency for Japan, with the plan to be updated as needed. The mechanism to mobilize the people into a war has also been strengthened. In the eyes of the government, however, the law on the "situation in areas surrounding Japan" has a weakness in that it does not allow the Self-Defense Forces to act as one body with the U.S. forces because the "situation in areas surrounding Japan" is irrelevant of national defense. It means that the SDF will be fighting wars abroad together with the U.S. forces. This is what the Constitution explicitly prohibits and what the past governments views rejected. All that the law on the "situation in areas surrounding Japan" could state was to stipulate that the government can ask regional government leaders to offer necessary cooperation. It is beyond the power of that law to deprive regional governments of their administrative rights and force them into cooperating in a war. Civil ports and airports cannot be accessed unless approved by local autonomy heads, who are responsible for these facilities. Though the government urges local governments and civilians to cooperate in the government's contingency measures under the "Law for measures to deal with situations in areas surrounding Japan," it cannot be free from regulations from such constitutional principles of renouncing war and the right of belligerency, and protesting local self-autonomy. The U.S. forces are urging Japan to designate certain seaports and airports in advance to actual "emergencies," saying that unless U.S. priority to use such facilities in emergencies is assured, they cannot plan head of time how to deal with "threats." The U.S. is pressing Japan to eliminate regulations arising from the "Law for measures to deal with situations in areas surrounding Japan." In 1993 and 1994, when the U.S. forces were on the verge of exercising "military punishment" against North Korea for its suspected nuclear development, they urged Japan to help them by showing a list of 1,059 items, some of which referred to Japan's ports and airports by name. The designated facilities are the six civil ports of Kobe, Matsuyama, Mizushima, Fukuoka, Osaka, Nagoya, and ten airports, including Narita, Kansai, Fukuoka, Nagasaki, and Naha. The ports Kobe, Fukuoka, and Mizushima are managed by their respective autonomies. As regards Narita International Airport, an agreement was made between the transport ministry, the president of the New Tokyo International Airport Authority (NAA), the Chiba Prefectural governor, and the association to pray for peace, stating that they are opposed to a "military use of the airport." An airport on Shimoji-shima Island in Okinawa, run by the local autonomy with a similar agreement, can be used by the U.S. forces. If the government designates some civil seaports and airports and forces local autonomies to accept their prior use by the USFJ, it will violate the principle of local self-autonomy. The government must maintain the agreements of non-military use of seaports and airports it made with the local autonomies. Growing possibility of ports to be attacked Accepting U.S. requests will mean pushing steps to remake the Japanese Archipelago into an "unsinkable aircraft carrier" to support U.S. military operations. It is a serious concern that these civilian facilities used for U.S. operations will be targeted. Then, local administrations will cease to function on their own and residents will be endangered. The need now is for the people to oppose any attempts at accelerating steps for war-readiness based on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty that will drag Japan into U.S.-led war. (Akahata April 23, 2005) |