Japan Press Weekly

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2021 July 7 - 13 [PEACE]

JCP assemblyperson in Okinawa speaks about Henoko’s anti-base protests at international meeting against military bases

Japanese Communist Party member of the Okinawa Prefectural Assembly Toguchi Osamu on July 9 spoke online about Okinawans’ fight against the construction of a new U.S. base in Henoko at an international congress against military bases held in Germany.

The two-day 5th International Congress "No to Military Bases and Wars” began on July 8 in Kaiserslautern, Germany.

JCP assemblyperson Toguchi reported that Okinawans have been waging a non-stop campaign against the Japanese government plan to reclaim the sea area off U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in the Henoko district for the new U.S. military facility construction.

Toguchi said that the Okinawans’ continuous struggle, such as with sit-in protests on a beach near Camp Schwab and in front of the base’s main gate, bore fruit in the form of victory in the gubernatorial elections in 2014 and 2018 of anti-base candidates who promised to remove the U.S. Futenma base and oppose the Henoko base project.

The JCP Okinawa assemblyperson noted that Japan-U.S. military cooperation in a Taiwan contingency scenario came up in summit talks between Prime Minister Suga and U.S. President Biden. “In this context, it is highly likely that the function of U.S. military bases in Okinawa will be enhanced by such means as deploying midrange missiles to these facilities,” he added.

In addition, Toguchi explained that as 70.3% of U.S. bases in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa which makes up only 0.6% of the nation’s total land, Okinawans in their everyday life are continuously threatened by crimes and accidents caused by U.S. military personnel. He appealed to participants attending the international meeting for their cooperation in communicating to people in the world, especially to U.S. citizens, what is happening in Okinawa.