Japanese economy could spark unrest, strengthen opposition to new US base: Analyst

An American geopolitical analyst says Japan’s economy is in dire straits which could lead to a chaotic situation at home, strengthening opposition to a new US base in Okinawa.

William Jones, the Washington bureau chief for Executive Intelligence Review, made the remarks in a phone interview with Press TV while commenting on increasing anger among the Japanese people against the US military deployments in their country.  

Japanese activists have planned a protest rally on Sunday against a new US military runway being built at Camp Schwab in Okinawa. The organizers say the demonstration could draw as many as 30,000 protesters.

Jones said that “it’s a good indicator of what people are thinking about, but it would have to be expanded to the rest of the country in order to put the pressure on the Japanese Diet (parliament) to get a change of policy.”

“But this could very well happen. It is a chaotic situation.  The economy of Japan is not in a good shape. And many of the expansions they are taking on themselves with this extension of their own military power could really cost that economy seriously, leading to a much greater reaction to what’s going on and therefore could strengthen the opposition to the new base of the United States in Okinawa,” he noted.

Earlier in his remarks, Jones said the government of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is seeking to strengthen relations with the administration of US President Barack Obama.

“The Japanese government, which is very much kind of a rightwing government, [is] intent on improving and strengthening relationship with the US, and, of course, that intent is also coming from the US side with President Obama and his pivot to Asia, which is to directly counter the growing power of China,” he noted.

So, the US government “is also dependent on the Japanese.”

The Obama administration announced the so-called “pivot” strategy to Asia in 2012, which involves the repositioning of American military forces throughout the Asia-Pacific region as well as strengthening US military alliances and strategic partnerships in that region.

Jones said there are a couple of problems with Obama’s strategy:

“One is that although Japan is allegedly the biggest ally of the United States in Asia, they don’t have a lot of close friends themselves, specially the South Koreans and the Chinese remember World War II and are very concerned about the growth of the Japanese military might.

“The other thing of course is the internal situation in Okinawa base. [It] is that a lot of people believe that what Japan had done with the establishment of a new Constitution and the restrictions placed by it on the extension of Japanese military power, it’s something that should be preserved.

“And of course Prime Minister Abe is trying to change that to extend the area of Japanese military operations, not only in the Pacific, but also internationally.

“And of course this is met with opposition.  We are seeing that in Okinawa especially because this was the major base for the United States ever since the World War II.”

The National Constitution of Japan came into effect on May 3, 1947, following World War II. The Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution outlaws war as a means to resolve international disputes. 

The once-independent Okinawa island was annexed by Japan in the 19th century and was under US control from the end of World War II in 1945 until 1972.

About half of US forces in Japan are based in Okinawa. Many locals have complained about base-related crimes, noise and the risk of accidents.

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