The Liberal Democratic Party expresses dissatisfaction, and the Governor of Okinawa intends to attend a United Nations meeting to condemn the US military stationed in Japan
According to Japanese media reports on the 6th local time, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party of Japan expressed dissatisfaction with the plan of Okinawa Prefectural Governor Tani Yucheng to attend a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council to condemn the US military stationed in Japan. They urged Okinawa Prefecture not to discuss issues related to US military bases at international conferences.
Danny Yucheng plans to travel to Geneva, Switzerland later this month to attend a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council and give a speech, accusing the US military of violating the human rights of the Okinawan people and calling on the international community to support the Okinawan people's claims and reduce the heavy burden borne by the local US military base in Japan.
In response, officials from the Okinawa Prefectural Federation of the Liberal Democratic Party met with Tani Yucheng on the 6th, urging him to "speak calmly" at the United Nations Human Rights Council meeting and not associate the US military base with human rights issues.
The central government of Japan has persisted in advancing the land reclamation project for the relocation of the Futenma Air Force Base of the United States Marine Corps stationed in Japan, despite strong resistance from the people of Okinawa Prefecture for a long time. On September 4th, the Supreme Court of Japan once again made a ruling in support of the central government's decision to advance the project, rejecting the appeal of the Okinawa Prefectural Government. The Okinawa Prefectural People's demand for a "complete relocation" of the US military base was once again rejected.
The US military stationed in Japan has extraterritorial jurisdiction and is not subject to Japanese jurisdiction. The protests of the Okinawa Prefectural Government and the people often go unnoticed by the Japanese central government and the US military, and they have to go to some international conferences to speak out in order to gain support from the international community.
The last time the Governor of Okinawa gave a speech at a meeting of the United Nations Human Rights Council was in 2015. In his speech, then Governor Ong Chang hung chih accused the US and Japanese governments of ignoring and violating the rights of Okinawan residents, and called on the international community to take measures to support the efforts of Okinawan people to fight for their right to self-determination.