「台灣建州運動」呼籲與歡迎美軍在台澎設立永久基地，保衛亞太地區，我們相信台灣人願意承擔責任(下)
四
普天間基地遷移與名護替代基地建設案的確是有了進展，但事情絕不會從此就進行平順，「英文日本時報」的一篇社論道出了其中的原委:
“Progress on Futenma Relocation”
The Japan Times
Dec 27, 2013
The go-ahead given by Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima for the start of landfill work in building an alternative facility in northern Okinawa to replace the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air base may mark a political breakthrough for Tokyo in its security alliance with Washington, at least on the surface. But even if the Futenma relocation is carried out, it will not result in a substantive reduction of the burden imposed on Okinawa, which hosts the bulk of U.S. military bases in Japan.
The central government must realize that most people in Okinawa resent the so-called reorganization of U.S. bases on their soil that has merely led to plans for substitute facilities on Okinawa Island instead of actual reductions in the U.S. military presence.
Tokyo needs to take concrete actions to ease Okinawa’s burden in meaningful ways. This will be crucial in sustaining Japan’s security alliance with the United States and in maintaining a trustful relationship between Tokyo and Okinawa.
The governor’s approval of the landfill work advances a plan initially agreed on between the Japanese and U.S. governments in 1996 to close Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, central Okinawa, on condition that an alternative facility was built within the prefecture. The accord to return the Futenma site to Japan and reorganize other U.S. military facilities on the island followed a rise in local anti-U.S. base sentiment in Okinawa the previous year, after American servicemen had raped a local schoolgirl.
While Tokyo and Washington reached subsequent agreements that designated the coastal area of the Henoko district in Nago in northern Okinawa as the site for a substitute facility, and decided on specifics for a new runway, the relocation of the Futenma facility made little progress due to local opposition.
The initial target to return the Futenma site “within five to seven years” gave way to a plan to realize the transfer by 2014, which in turn was pushed back to “2022 or later.”
Amid the prolonged impasse, the central government does not appear to have seriously considered moving the Futenma base functions out of Okinawa — already home to around three-quarters of the Japan-based facilities used solely by the U.S. military.
When the Democratic Party of Japan took power from the Liberal Democratic Party in 2009, then Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said the substitute facility for Futenma should be moved either outside Okinawa or out of Japan. But within several months, his administration scrapped the idea and reverted to the Henoko plan. The flip-flop only hardened local opposition while hurting Japan’s diplomatic credibility vis-a-vis the U.S.
Although closing the Futenma base would at least remove some of the dangers posed by the operation of this facility in a densely populated area of Ginowan, mayors of all 41 municipalities in Okinawa have been unanimous in urging the government to give up on constructing the substitute facility within the prefecture.
In a recent local media survey, 63 percent of Okinawans polled said Nakaima should not allow landfill work off Henoko for the substitute facility, while 22 percent said the governor should do so.
The turnaround by Nakaima, who for years had called for moving the Futenma substitute facility outside of Okinawa, came after the national government allocated ¥340 billion for fiscal 2014 measures to promote Okinawa’s economy. In addition, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe promised that at least ¥300 billion in such funds will be set aside for Okinawa each year until fiscal 2021.
Abe needs to follow through on his words that the central government will do all it can to reduce Okinawa’s burden of hosting the U.S. bases. And the reduction needs to result in a substantially smaller American military footprint on the island. Otherwise, resentment in Okinawa will rise.
最後一段說出了琉球人的心聲與琉球美軍基地的根本解決辦法，該報指出，倘若東京政府不縮減美軍在琉球的規模，那麼沖繩人對東京的憎恨會升高[這還得了!]。
「英文日本時報」社論的墨汁未乾，一些沖繩的小政客就迫不及待地準備胡鬧，我們來讀「紐約時報」的報導:
“New Tensions Cloud Deal for Okinawa Base”
By HIROKO TABUCHI and THOM SHANKER
Published: December 27, 2013
TOKYO — Even as officials on both sides of the Pacific hailed an agreement to resolve a tangled dispute over a Marine base on Okinawa, strong opposition to the deal in Okinawa and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s recent visit to a war shrine cast a shadow over the diplomatic celebration.
Despite the United States’ deep satisfaction with the agreement, a congratulatory telephone call expected Friday between Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and his Japanese counterpart, Itsunori Onodera, was put off, American officials said.
The postponement had less to do with complications in Okinawa than with Washington’s concerns over Mr. Abe’s appearance this week at the Yasukuni Shrine, which honors the nation’s war dead, including several war criminals who were executed after Japan’s defeat in 1945. The visit was viewed with alarm by some of the United States’ other allies in the region, especially South Korea, for its glorification of Japanese militarism in the last century.
A State Department spokeswoman, Jen Psaki, said in a statement that the United States was “disappointed that Japan’s leadership has taken an action that will exacerbate tensions with Japan’s neighbors,” echoing a statement on Thursday by the new American ambassador to Japan, Caroline Kennedy.
Still, both American and Japanese officials separately offered high praise for a decision by the governor of Okinawa, Hirokazu Nakaima, to allow landfill work to begin on a new base that would occupy a remote coast on Okinawa’s main island.
Mr. Nakaima’s approval came after longstanding opposition on Okinawa to moving the Marine Corps’ Air Station Futenma, which occupies a crowded urban area, to Henoko Bay in Nago, in the north.
The move would advance efforts by the Pentagon to rebalance American military forces across the Asia-Pacific region, and by Mr. Abe to raise his country’s strategic posture. Under the plan, the 18,000 Marines now stationed on Okinawa would drop to about 10,000 once the new base was completed over the next decade.
Swift and angry opposition from some local leaders in Okinawa, who continue to demand that the base be moved off the island altogether, has raised some questions on how smoothly the relocation can proceed.
Much of the ire remains directed not so much at Washington as at Tokyo, and what locals see as the excessive concentration of American bases in Okinawa. Okinawa Prefecture makes up a fraction of Japan’s total land area, but it hosts almost three dozen American military facilities and over half of the 50,000 American service members stationed in Japan.
The strongest response came from Susumu Inamine, the mayor of Nago City, near where the new base would be built, which is not far from another American installation, Camp Schwab. He told reporters in Okinawa after the decision that he “definitely opposed” the plan, and said he had told the governor so.
Mr. Inamine is up for re-election next month, and how much he will complicate the relocation process will hinge on whether he will prevail over a pro-base candidate backed by Mr. Abe’s party. “The battle lines are now drawn” for the Jan. 19 ballot, Mr. Inamine said.
Opponents of the relocation plan have accused Mr. Nakaima of betrayal for his reversal. And on Friday, he himself expressed personal skepticism, saying he also would prefer that the base be moved out of the region.
Mr. Nakaima also said he would call for the closing of the old base in five years, even though the plan lays out a relocation that lasts twice as long.
“I gave my legal approval,” Mr. Nakaima said at a news conference broadcast live on national television. “But the relocation will not be easy. In fact, I don’t think its feasibility is very high. I think moving the base outside Okinawa is a better plan.”
About 2,000 people gathered at the Okinawa prefectural office to protest Mr. Nakaima’s move.
Senior officials in both Japan and the United States had acknowledged that additional hurdles could arise over the 10-year timetable required to replace Futenma with the new base at Henoko Bay. But they took pains after Mr. Nakaima’s ambivalent remarks to point out that the deal was now complete. In Washington, Mr. Hagel released a statement praising the agreement as important to strengthening bilateral relations. He said the approval was “absolutely critical to the United States’ ongoing rebalance to the Asia-Pacific region.”
Mr. Hagel also noted that the realignment “will reduce our footprint in the most populated part of Okinawa,” even as it allows for “sustaining U.S. military capabilities vital to the peace and security of the region.”
In Tokyo, Mr. Abe thanked Mr. Nakaima for his “brave decision” and pledged that the government would “continue to do what it can to reduce the burden” of the base on local residents.
He again defended his visit to the Yasukuni Shrine, saying it was customary for leaders around to pay their respects to their war dead. “I will strive to have them understand that,” he told reporters when asked about the United States’ reaction.
The original agreement to move Air Station Futenma was signed in 1996 after the rape of an Okinawan schoolgirl by American servicemen. That crime fueled a local protest movement that advocated ousting the Marines from the islands altogether. Environmentalists also raised concerns about the effects of a new base along a coast known for its rich sea life.
Those concerns delayed the agreement. But since his return to the prime minister’s office a year ago, Mr. Abe had pressed Okinawan officials on the deal, offering financial support for the region, and agreeing to measures to reduce some of the burden of American bases on Okinawa.
Hiroko Tabuchi reported from Tokyo, and Thom Shanker from Washington.
五
數十年來，在日本、沖繩、台灣、菲律賓與南韓都出現一些左翼人士(他們是惱人的存在，人數極少，但聲音很大，他們的行動還會得到美國左翼與反帝人士的聲援)，他們以各種形式出現，如反資本主義，他們高舉「環保」的大旗，他們反對美國在他們的國家設軍事基地，-------但不管是打什麼旗號，他們的身上通常有「反帝」與反美的烙印，所以，他們總是不自覺地成為「老共的同路人」，所以這一小撮沽名釣譽的人很令人不舒適，雖然我們必須尊重與維護他們意見表達的自由與權利。
例如，南韓的釜山是美國與南韓極為重要的軍港與軍事基地，美國為了在釜山建設海軍基地，就遭到一小撮打著「維護海洋生態」的旗號的南韓反美派與吃飽太閒的美國左翼人士的抗議。我們現在來讀一則美國環保與左翼人士[我絕對沒有把環保運動與「反美」劃等號，請大家不要誤解]的報導:
"Obstructing Business": South Koreans on the March”
Iara Lee
huffingtonpost.com
Posted: 08/29/11 09:57 PM ET
I was in Seoul, South Korea this month at the invitation of the wonderful EBS TV Documentary Festival, and was truly, happily surprised to see a resurgence of activism among ordinary Koreans. Don't get me wrong. Since its founding, Korea has had a tradition of fierce, die-hard activism (which Koreans themselves may attribute to a diet high in garlic and red pepper, as well as their commitment to social justice), but this ferocity seemed to have gone dormant in the mid-nineties. I was overjoyed to find that this was no longer the case.
While in Korea, I had the opportunity to slip away to Jeju-do for a few days. It had been 20 years since the last time I had visited the island, when I had gone for vacation like most visitors to Jeju-do. An idyllic, sub-tropical climate and a UNESCO heritage site status have made Jeju-do an extremely popular tourist and honeymoon destination, while the remoteness of the island from mainland Korea has bred a unique and independent culture.
In 2005, Jeju-do was dubbed "Island of World Peace" by then Korean president Roh Moo-hyun. This was perhaps in an effort to scrub itself clean of a bloody past, as Jeju-do is the site of one of the most disturbing and grisly episodes leading up to the Korean War. Under the leadership of American puppet Syngman Rhee, right-wing paramilitary forces from the mainland waged a brutal campaign against a "communist" uprising which, at the most conservative estimates, killed 30,000 people (one-tenth of the population of the island) and displaced countless others. This memory of the April 3, 1948 massacre is still vivid in the minds of Jeju-do villagers, who are once again mobilizing against repression.
One might also see this designation of "peace island" as a hopeful talisman against further abuse, but for several years the South Korean government, at American urging, has been relentless in its attempts to build a naval base on Jeju-do, and now have their sights set on the tranquil coastal village of Gangjeong.
While offering several reasons for building the base -- to protect commercial interests, to serve as yet another defense against a belligerent North Korea -- most of the islanders understand that the base at Gangjeong will offer little protection against a possible attack by North Korea, functioning mostly as a proxy for American missile defense against an ascendant China. In other words, American militaristic posturing at a grievous cost to the local ecology -- an unwelcome combination to the island, and to a region that has suffered enough war in the 20th century.
The Jeju-do I visited this time around was radically different from my previous experience. In addition to water sports and walks along the shoreline, the people there were engaged in some less likely activities for a paradise island, like chaining themselves to construction equipment, tethering their bodies to each other and to the site of the proposed naval base. I also attended the celebratory release of Sung Hee Choi, an artist who was being released from jail after three months and remains on probation. Her crime, like so many others protesting the base, was "obstructing business" -- in Choi's case, standing in front of oncoming cement trucks. Choi was in good company, as people from all sectors of the community, including the mayor of Gangjeong, have also been brutalized and imprisoned by police forces. Upon my arrival, I have learned that an additional 600 riot police, including water cannons and riot buses had been imported from the mainland in anticipation of larger protests, leaving the community on edge.
Back on the mainland, things are equally restless. As the economy lags, and the government of South Korea moves increasingly to the right, labor has suffered greatly. Enter Jin-suk Kim and her "aerial protest."
In the southern coastal city of Pusan, a woman named Jin-suk Kim has been confining herself in a high-rise crane for nearly eight months. Kim is a member of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions (KCTU), and has been up in crane no. 85 in the Yeongdo shipyard since January 6, in protest of severe layoffs by the Hanjin corporation (HHIC).
Incidentally, crane no. 85 was the site of another protest eight years ago -- but rather than a prolonged sit-in inside the crane, the protestor in question preferred to string a noose and hang himself from it.
Although initially flying solo in her aerial protest, Kim is not alone. Caravans of "Hope Buses" carrying thousands of supporters have been visiting the crane area to offer their support. Like the protests on Jeju-do, this has not been without obstacles -- one caravan was met with batons, tear gas, and water cannons as they tried to push the police line. The founder of the Hope Bus campaign, a poet named Kyung-dong Song, himself stands a vigil of sorts in the KCTU trade union offices in Seoul. If he leaves KCTU safe haven, he will be immediately arrested by the police hovering around the building day and night, waiting for that opportunity. This is the price Mr. Song will pay for successfully "obstructing business" and organizing large demonstrations without a government permit. Again, just this past weekend in Seoul, hundreds of miles from the no. 85 crane in Pusan, 9,000 police have been deployed to disrupt around 2,500 "Hope Bus" protestors demonstrating against the Hanjin layoffs with water cannons and other means of force.
Hanjin is hardly the only corporation being targeted by this resurgent labor movement. The ordinary citizens who protest the naval base on Jeju are also protesting Samsung, a chaebol (family-run mega-corporation), which has offered obscene bonuses to upper management while laying off thousands of workers, and which stands to profit from the construction of the base in Gangjeong.
And here we find a lovely coalescence, as these protestors are not "labor," strictly speaking. Many of the activists I met in Korea told me how inspired they have been by the Arab Spring protests, and of their hope for a similar "Asian Spring" in South Korea and elsewhere to fight against corporate greed and militarism. Accordingly, the Hope Bus campaign found support not only from labor, but from the disabled, sexual minorities, religious figures, and other groups, all of whom stand unequivocally opposed to the immoral practices of the chaebol culture. And it is not only Koreans getting involved. Renowned American feminist Gloria Steinem has offered her voice in support of the protestors on Jeju-do, and prominent anti-war activists from the west have arrived on the island to join in the opposition. Figures like Noam Chomsky are coming out in support of Jin-suk Kim and the Hope Buses.
What I saw in Korea was a beautiful thing, true solidarity among people of different interests and nationalities, thousands of people, ordinary people, who have found that when they speak as one, it is impossible not to hear them.
這些令人不舒適的左派不管南韓的、日本的、台灣的、菲律賓的或美國的，都不識大體，他們都無視「中華新邪惡帝國」的竄起與威脅，他們都在幹害己害人的蠢事，不管他們是打什麼神聖的旗號。
深處於「中華新邪惡帝國」威脅第一線的台灣人以最親美的「台灣建州運動」為代表，希望能代表親美的台灣民眾，呼籲與歡迎美國各軍種武裝部隊以台灣為美國在西太平洋最主要的與永久的基地，這樣既可以捍衛美國在亞太地區與印太戰區的安全、戰略、政治與經濟利益，可以解決不識大體的[雖然我們對他們的立場也能表示理解]琉球人的問題，同時也可以幫助日本早日成為一個「正常國家」。
所以，從現在起，我們盼望日本人與沖繩人能對「台灣建州運動」給予支持，美國在台灣的永久軍事與政治存在完全符合日本的利益。
台灣建州運動發起人周威霖
David C. Chou
Founder, Formosa Statehood Movement
(an organization devoted in current stage to making Taiwan a territorial commonwealth of the United States)
