Protests over Japan-US military drills in Okinawa expose domestic rifts

While Japan's defence minister has condemned the protests, a governor says the US military presence places a huge burden on Okinawa Prot...

While Japan's defence minister has condemned the protests, a governor says the US military presence places a huge burden on Okinawa

Protests that disrupted a major Japan-US military exercise in Okinawa have drawn strong condemnation from the Japanese defence minister, conservative media and the public.

The uproar reflects wider unease over mainland China's growing military presence near Japan, with tensions over the disputed Diaoyu Islands and Taiwan fuelling fears of a regional conflict and divisions among the Japanese people over the US military presence in the country.

Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary. Most countries, including the US, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-governed island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.

Defence Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters on Friday that the protests had forced the Japanese Self-Defence Forces to alter their training programme on Miyako Island. Japanese and US troops were taking part in the 14-day Resolute Dragon 25, one of the largest bilateral exercises ever held in Okinawa. The drills began on September 12, and will end on Thursday.

"Due to acts of disruption, we were forced to change the content of the Self-Defence Forces' training on Miyako Island on the 13th [of September]," he said. "This is extremely regrettable."

Nakatani said he did not object to people expressing their opinions. But he added: "I intend to conduct training in a way that does not cause inconvenience. I would like the protests to be conducted with common sense and tolerance."

Protesters blocked a road on Miyako on September 13, halting vehicles that included ambulances from coming ashore from a vessel in the town's port and delivering supplies to a military base on the island. The exercise involving the vehicles was cancelled.

Two days later, activists blocked a road on Ishigaki, bringing a US military convoy that was en route to the island's civilian airport to a halt. The protesters unfurled a banner protesting the deployment by US forces of the Marine Integrated Air Defence System, which is used to counter attacks by drones or other airborne weapons systems.

Groups in Okinawa also demanded a ban on the involvement of Japanese forces in the prefecture's All-Island Eisa Festival, a two-day event that started on September 12. Japanese troops have taken part in previous editions of the festival.

The protesters' actions have angered several media outlets, with an editorial in the right-wing Sankei newspaper headlined: "Don't let minority leftists hostage Okinawa and Japan's security".

Describing the protest that curtailed the drill in Miyako as "outrageous", the editorial added: "Such exercises are conducted with the goal of protecting Japan, including Okinawa, from threats by China and other potential adversaries. Those who would oppose such exercises are terribly misguided.

"Surely government officials and military leaders in China and North Korea are roaring with laughter at such stupidity."

The Yomiuri called the exercises a "clear demonstration of deterrence" vital to the nation's security.

Many readers of the relevant media reports have expressed support for the drills.

"This is not a protest, but obstruction," a user said in the comments section linked to a report by the Mainichi newspaper. "If the troops cannot train, they will not be able to fully demonstrate their capabilities when they are deployed."

A comment on the website of the Okinawa-based Yaeyama Nippo newspaper read: "I understand the desire for peace, but if that's what these people want, then surely the demonstrations should be held in front of the Russian and Chinese embassies. If no neighbouring countries were trying to attack Japan, Japan could not become a battlefield."

The comments represent growing concerns about a conflict breaking out close to Japan, said Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University in Tokyo, with Taiwan and the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea seen as potential flashpoints. Japan controls the latter islands and refers to them as the Senkakus.

"There has been a lot of Chinese naval activity off Okinawa, including the Diaoyu Islands, and that has stoked anxiety in Tokyo and among people," Kingston told This Week in Asia.

Apart from the territorial dispute, the popularity of a film about Unit 731 in China during World War II reflects growing anti-Japanese sentiment in China, according to Kingston, who was referring to an infamous Japanese army unit that carried out human experimentation and other tests on the Chinese people during the war.

"Clearly, the Japanese and Chinese mutual recriminations are increasing significantly, and we can attribute that to the sense that China is becoming more assertive about its hegemonic ambitions in the region," he said.

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki, however, has pushed back against Nakatani's comments, pointing out that protests are permitted under the nation's constitution and that the prefecture continues to bear the greatest burden of the US military presence in Japan.

An editorial published Sunday in Okinawa's Ryukyu Shimpo said Nakatani's comments were "unacceptable". The newspaper added: "It seems that the restraints of civilian democratic control over military power have been lost."

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This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com), the leading news media reporting on China and Asia.

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