JCP demands plan to deploy SDF to Yonaguni Island near Taiwan be cancelled

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

JCP demands plan to deploy SDF to Yonaguni Island near Taiwan be cancelled

Japanese Communist Party representative Akamine Seiken in the House of Representatives anti-terrorism committee meeting on July 10 demanded that the Defense Ministry cancel its plan to deploy the Self-Defense Forces to Yonaguni Island (Okinawa Prefecture) near Taiwan.

Akamine said: "The island, which is located near the border with Taiwan, has historically prospered through exchanges with China and Taiwan. If the SDF are stationed there, their presence will only increase tensions."

He also argued that the island on the border needs peaceful diplomacy and international exchanges, not a military presence.

The Yonaguni town assembly chair allegedly asked for the SDF to be stationed there. However, the fact of the matter is that he requested this without the assembly's approval.

Akamine criticized the Defense Ministry for its one-sided action without heeding local opinion. The defense minister visited the island on July 8.

- Akahata, July 12, 2009