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Okinawans have no voice in hosting US bases: Commentator

Sunday, 21 February 2016 2:22 PM [ Last Update: Sunday, 21 February 2016 2:21 PM ]

People hold banners as they listen to a speaker during a rally against a new US military base in Okinawa in front of the National Diet in Tokyo on February 21, 2016. (AFP photo)

Press TV has interviewed Michael Penn, a journalist and political commentator in Tokyo, to discuss the Japanese government’s plans to relocate a contentious US military base on the southern island of Okinawa.

The following is a rough transcription of the interview.

Press TV: First of all, walk us through the grievances of the Okinawans?

Penn: Well first of all the occupation, the US military occupation of Okinawa lasted much longer than it did the rest of Japan whereas the rest of Japan was …, occupation ended in 1952, the occupation of Okinawa ended in 1972. So it was used as a base all throughout the Vietnam War.

And basically what the Okinawans argue, and they have a great deal of evidence to support this, is that they have never really been given any real voice in their self-determination when it comes to hosting US bases which is a burden on the local communities for various environmental and safety reasons.

Press TV: Two questions come to mind. One, why does the United States want a base on Okinawa and second, over the years we have seen various officials from Okinawa, the governor and other high-ranking officials promising that they will halt the project. Do they have enough leverage to be able to stop it?

Penn: As to why the United States wants the base that [says] US marines and the idea basically is that if there are some major outbreak of hostilities in the Korean Peninsula or in other places in East Asia, this would be the base from which the US marines were sent as serve the first ground deployment and as for why it needs to be in Okinawa, well serious analysis suggest that there is no reason it has to be in Okinawa from military point of view but from a political point of view it is the only place that the Japanese government can force the population to accept hosting these bases.

And as to the question of whether or not the Okinawans have enough power to resist to this policy which is being pushed on them strongly by both the US and Japanese governments, that is an open question. I know a lot of analysts who believe they do not have enough power, that they are going to be overwhelmed, they are going to be crushed but other people believe that depending on how things go on the ground, the opinion in the rest of Japan could change on this issue.

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