Japan Press Weekly

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2016 September 14 - 20 [POLITICS]

SDF acting like subcontractor for US base construction

Two CH-47 transport helicopters of the Ground Self-Defense Force on September 13 transported materials, equipment, and heavy vehicles to a U.S. Osprey helipad construction site stretching over Takae and Aha in Okinawa’s Higashi and Kunigami villages.

A local villager saw that at least six times on that day the GSDF aircraft were hanging building materials and trucks in the air. He said, “It was as if the SDF has become a subcontractor for the base construction.”

Considering that the SDF’s raison d’etre is supposedly to protect people’s lives and property, the use of SDF aircraft to assist in the construction of a foreign military base has nothing to do with its primary duties. Akahata criticized Japan’s defense authorities for demoting the country’s self-defense brigade to a subcontracting unit for the U.S. military.

Defense Minister Inada Tomomi cited Article 4 of the Defense Ministry Establishment Act as providing the legal basis for the use of SDF helicopters in this manner. However, the article only lists the provision of bases as one of the ministry’s clerical affairs. If the ministry can do anything based on this provision, Japan will no longer be a law-abiding nation.

Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi on the same day told the press corps that he contacted the Okinawa Defense Bureau to find out what legal grounds were used to have SDF aircraft transport construction materials for foreign military purposes. The bureau responded, according to the governor, that it will give an explanation regarding his inquiry in one week.

Onaga said, “A week from now, the unloading of building materials will probably be finished. I can’t help wondering what in the world our country is doing.”

The governor also said, “I feel resentful,” about the police blocking the public roads leading to the construction site and the dispatch of 500 riot police officers from mainland Japan to a small village in Okinawa.

Past related articles:
> Met with storm of protests gov’t has to airlift heavy equipment for US helipad site in Takae [September 10, 2016]
> Okinawa governor criticizes excessive policing in Takae [August 26 & 27, 2016]