December 3, 2007
“A year and half has passed since the conclusion of the Japan-U.S. agreement on the U.S. military realignment, and none of the major realignment plans have been implemented with the support of local municipalities and their residents,” JCP Chair Shii stated.
About 13,000 people from the Tokyo Metropolitan area on December 2 took part in a rally held in Zama City (Kanagawa Pref.) in opposition to the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
Shouting, “No to War Headquarters, No to jets, No to nuclear-powered carrier,” the rally participants expressed their determination to prevent the realignment plan from being implemented.
Zama City hosts U.S. Army Camp Zama to which the U.S. Army 1st Corps Headquarters is being relocated from Washington State as part of the realignment. The U.S. Army is planning to officially establish the headquarters this month and complete the relocation by next September.
The U.S. Navy is also pushing ahead with its plan to deploy the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington to the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base located in the same prefecture next August.
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in his speech stated, “Our struggle has entered into a crucial stage. A year and half has passed since the conclusion of the Japan-U.S. agreement on the U.S. military realignment, and none of the major realignment plans have been implemented with the support of local municipalities and their residents.”
Camp Zama invited mayors of seven cities in the area surrounding the base, including Zama, to a ceremony celebrating the establishment of the headquarters to be held on December 19. However, all seven mayors announced that they will not attend.
Shii stressed that a new political situation has emerged as seen in the development of an issue concerning the history textbooks’ descriptions of the reality of the Battle of Okinawa and the withdrawal of the Self-Defense Forces from the Indian Ocean.
Citing the major defense scandal in which politicians, bureaucrats, and the military industry are suspected of attempting to exploit even realignment projects, he stated, “Those who pursue their self-interest have absolutely no right to impose the U.S. military realignment on the public.”
Pointing out that struggles in opposition to the strengthening of U.S. base functions in Kanagawa Prefecture, Okinawa, Iwakuni City, and elsewhere in Japan can undermine the whole plan of the U.S. military realignment, the JCP chair stated, “Joining forces with you, the JCP will fight to the end.”
Representatives of movements in Okinawa, where a new U.S. base is planned to be constructed, Iwakuni, to which carrier-based aircraft unit will be relocated, and Zama extended greetings in solidarity and received enthusiastic applause. Imaizumi Masao, representative of the Yokosuka group, reported on the lawsuit against the Yokosuka port dredging that the government is conducting in preparation for the deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as well as their plan to request the Yokosuka City Assembly to enact an ordinance to hold a referendum on the homeporting of the carrier.
After the rally, the participants marched in demonstration around Camp Zama.
- Akahata, December 3, 2007
Shouting, “No to War Headquarters, No to jets, No to nuclear-powered carrier,” the rally participants expressed their determination to prevent the realignment plan from being implemented.
Zama City hosts U.S. Army Camp Zama to which the U.S. Army 1st Corps Headquarters is being relocated from Washington State as part of the realignment. The U.S. Army is planning to officially establish the headquarters this month and complete the relocation by next September.
The U.S. Navy is also pushing ahead with its plan to deploy the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier George Washington to the U.S. Yokosuka Naval Base located in the same prefecture next August.
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo in his speech stated, “Our struggle has entered into a crucial stage. A year and half has passed since the conclusion of the Japan-U.S. agreement on the U.S. military realignment, and none of the major realignment plans have been implemented with the support of local municipalities and their residents.”
Camp Zama invited mayors of seven cities in the area surrounding the base, including Zama, to a ceremony celebrating the establishment of the headquarters to be held on December 19. However, all seven mayors announced that they will not attend.
Shii stressed that a new political situation has emerged as seen in the development of an issue concerning the history textbooks’ descriptions of the reality of the Battle of Okinawa and the withdrawal of the Self-Defense Forces from the Indian Ocean.
Citing the major defense scandal in which politicians, bureaucrats, and the military industry are suspected of attempting to exploit even realignment projects, he stated, “Those who pursue their self-interest have absolutely no right to impose the U.S. military realignment on the public.”
Pointing out that struggles in opposition to the strengthening of U.S. base functions in Kanagawa Prefecture, Okinawa, Iwakuni City, and elsewhere in Japan can undermine the whole plan of the U.S. military realignment, the JCP chair stated, “Joining forces with you, the JCP will fight to the end.”
Representatives of movements in Okinawa, where a new U.S. base is planned to be constructed, Iwakuni, to which carrier-based aircraft unit will be relocated, and Zama extended greetings in solidarity and received enthusiastic applause. Imaizumi Masao, representative of the Yokosuka group, reported on the lawsuit against the Yokosuka port dredging that the government is conducting in preparation for the deployment of the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier as well as their plan to request the Yokosuka City Assembly to enact an ordinance to hold a referendum on the homeporting of the carrier.
After the rally, the participants marched in demonstration around Camp Zama.
- Akahata, December 3, 2007
