山谷労働者福祉会館のなすびです。
昨日、アメリカのメディアでは沖縄の状況が全く記事になっていないとお伝えしま
したが、今日11/23のワシントンポストに記事が出ました。那覇、名護と普天間基地
の場所を示した地図が添えられています。
前知事のせいで反対気運が活気付いて一度は名護への移設は流れたが、選挙で代わ
った「穏健派」の稲嶺知事が普天間基地の移設を支持するという発表をした、という
内容です。しかし同時に、「次の世代には基地なしで暮らせさせたい」など、県内移
設に反対している民衆の声を、かなりスペースを割いて伝えています。
この普天間基地の移設は、もともと少女暴行事件のあとに米政府側から提案したこ
と、アジアでの力量を落とさないことが分かっているので、米軍はむしろ歓迎してい
るいうことがはっきり書かれています。また、稲嶺知事の言う15年期限については、
米軍は一瞥もせず一蹴しており、日本政府は沖縄を何とか丸めこむ手段を今から考え
ておかなければいけない、と書いてあります。
反対している沖縄の人の声を具体的に伝えているという点においては、本土の新聞
よりまともなのかもしれません。しかし、このタイトルは・・・・。
【転載禁止】The Washington Post, Nov. 23,1999
----------------------------------------------
Okinawan Supports Relocating U.S. Base
Demonstrators Protest Governor's Stand That Renews Controversy Over
Air
Facility
By Doug Struck
Washington Post Foreign Service
Tuesday , November 23, 1999 ; A19
NAHA, Japan, Nov. 22 - Over the angry objections of demonstrators, the
governor of Okinawa today announced his support for a plan to relocate
a
U.S. air base on the island, a key step in resolving a long-festering
issue
between the United States and Japan.
But the move seems likely to reignite the storm in Okinawa over the
World
War II legacy of the U.S. presence here. Bowing to the resentment of
Okinawans over the numerous American bases on the small island, Gov.
Keiichi Inamine added a potential deal breaker to his support for relocating
the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station to a more sparsely populated area
25
miles north in Nago.
Inamine said the new air base should revert to civilian control in 15
years, a
requirement the U.S. government flatly rejects. Tokyo must now find
a way
to finesse the governor's deadline, or watch the loss of its second
attempt in
four years to resolve the dispute.
"Everybody knows the U.S. position. Everybody knows the [Japanese]
central government position. But for the benefit of the people of Okinawa,
the deadline is hard to back down from," said Inamine's deputy, Reiji
Fumoto.
The U.S. military said the move would not compromise its military
preparedness in Asia. "We have always said that moving Futenma is a
major
step to reducing our footprint on the island, and we welcome it," said
Marine Capt. Joseph Plenzler, a spokesman at the air base. "We will
accept
any alternative Okinawa wants, as long as it meets our requirements."
Futenma is among the smaller of the dozen U.S. bases on Okinawa. But
it
has become the sharpest thorn in relations involving the United States,
Japan
and Okinawa, Japan's southernmost and perhaps most independent-minded
state.
After the 1995 rape of a 12-year-old schoolgirl by three American soldiers
outraged Okinawans, the U.S. government offered to move Futenma, which
has long irritated residents because of the noise and its location
in the heart
of the city of Ginowan.
In 1997, the proposal to move the base to a floating heliport near Nago
was
defeated by rising sentiment--encouraged by the former Okinawa
governor--that the base should leave the island completely. Inamine,
elected
last year on a more moderate platform, said today he had made an
"agonizing decision" to revive the plan and relocate the base along
the shore
of Camp Schwab near Nago.
But even as he spoke, shouting demonstrators tried to get into the news
conference. The governor fled briefly to a phalanx of security men
when it
appeared that the demonstrators might burst into the room.
"They did this in secret because they are afraid of us," said Shinichi
Isa,
referring to the governor's announcement, originally planned for
Wednesday. He spoke to about 150 demonstrators outside the government
building, who chanted "Governor, listen to the people," and "Protect
the
environment."
Inamine has sidestepped the question of whether the airstrip should
be built
on the water, which would anger environmentalists, or on the land,
which
would bring opposition from nearby fishermen. Opponents promptly
announced a petition drive to defeat the relocation. They have threatened
a
similar petition effort to recall the mayor of Nago if, as expected,
he
supports the plan.
"The U.S. forces took the land, without any consideration to the local
people, and have kept the bases there," complained Masaru Shinsatu,
as he
stood near a banner at the rally. "In the last 54 years, the Okinawa
people
have asserted they wanted all the bases withdrawn from the island."
U.S. bases occupy nearly a fifth of Okinawa's land, planted there after
the
fierce fighting in World War II. Okinawa was the only land battleground
in
Japan, and the island prefecture, or state, was not returned to Japan's
sovereignty until 1972. About two-thirds of the more than 50,000 U.S.
troops stationed in Japan are on Okinawa, which includes the largest
Marine
contingent outside the United States.
The Japanese central government has supported the U.S. troop presence
here and has been frustrated at local opposition to resolving the Futenma
issue. President Clinton has said he wanted the issue resolved before
he
attends the summit meeting of the world's top industrialized nations
next
July in Okinawa.
Okinawans have been ambivalent about the bases. They resent the U.S.
military presence and the bases, but they also recognize the economic
benefit the bases bring an island with lagging economic prospects.
"Okinawans are fed up with seeing the fences of the bases," said Yoshitaka
Toyohira, the political editor for the local Okinawa Times. "We have
seen
that since we were a child, and the next generation should be able
to live
without it."
But the central government is promising to accompany the base relocation
with a $95 million package to help Okinawa's economy.
Futenma's 1,188 acres, built in 1945 as a B-29 landing strip, house
71
aircraft, most of them helicopters. U.S. officials said they could
relocate the
helicopters with an airstrip much shorter than Futenma's 9,000-foot
runway. About 3,700 Marine personnel are based there.
Special correspondent Shigehiko Togo contributed to this report
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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