- 琉球独立運動資料
米軍基地問題は沖縄独立論を焚き付ける
US military bases fuel Okinawa independence debate
Robin Harding in Naha, Okinawa
- Protesters on the Japanese island of Okinawa demonstrate against the construction of a new US airbase at Henoko
In a decrepit office below a billiard hall in the city of Naha, capital of Okinawa in southern Japan, a small group is dreaming of a new country.
- Surrounded by flags showing three stars on two bands of blue, symbolising the Okinawan sea and sky, they represent a revived movement for the Ryukyu Islands, which include Okinawa, to declare independence from Japan.
“Support for Ryukyu independence is growing,” says Chousuke Yara, a perennial electoral candidate for the movement. “People are coming to understand that Okinawa was originally part of the Ryukyu kingdom, then invaded by Japan and made Japanese by education.”
The movement has a long way to go — a recent poll of islanders put support for independence at just 8 per cent. But another 21 per cent back full devolution and 88 per cent want greater self-determination — a sign of a growing alienation from the rest of Japan that could have profound consequences for regional security.
The Ryukyu chain, which stretches in a 1,000km arc from Taiwan to the Japanese mainland, are a natural barrier between China and the Pacific. The island of Okinawa is a cornerstone of the US military presence in Asia, with US bases covering about 20 per cent of its land area.
There is a range of opinions on security in the independence movement, Mr Yara says. But his vision of a nonaligned and pacifist republic would send shivers down the spine of any US military planner.
“The Ryukyus and China have always had a friendly relationship, so there’s no reason to think the current Chinese regime would trouble us,” he says. “For example, if Japan were picking on us, we could have a military alliance with Taiwan or China, or the opposite, we could ally with the US and Japan.”
Resentment over the US bases has been a running sore in relations between Okinawa and the mainland following incidents such as the rape of a local schoolgirl by US servicemen in 1995 and the crash of a US helicopter in 2004. Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, wants to relocate the controversial helicopter base at Futenma to Henoko Bay in the north of the island, but locals want the base shut or moved off the island altogether.
"We’ve gone from being an economy that relies on [US military] bases to the bases holding us back
- Masaki Tomochi, Okinawa International University
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Takeshi Onaga, Okinawa’s popular governor, recently revoked a permit for building a new base at Henoko. Last week Mr Abe took out a court injunction against Mr Onaga and resumed construction. Elderly protesters outside the site at Henoko were dragged away by police after Mr Abe’s decision.
“I can’t restrain my furious resentment,” says Mr Onaga, elected last year on a mandate to oppose relocation of the Futenma base to Henoko. “The coercion continues.”
Masaaki Gabe, a professor at the University of the Ryukyus, agrees that Okinawans feel distant from the government in Tokyo. “People feel Japanese but they also have feelings of discrimination by the Tokyo government,” he says.
Another incident like the rape or the helicopter crash could change feelings towards independence, he adds. “If there was a big event,
and it wasn’t handled to the satisfaction of the Okinawan people, then it could have serious effects.”
The dispute over the US bases is the most significant issue between Okinawa and the mainland but the island is diverging from Japan in other ways. With Japan’s highest birth rate, its population is ageing more slowly. And unlike on the industrial mainland, the island economy is growing fast.
Asian tourists are drawn by Okinawa’s blend of subtropical beauty and urban culture: visitor numbers rose 10 per cent last year to more than 7m, with the number of Chinese tourists more than doubling.
Okinawa is also trying to promote its strategic location to business as a potential logistics hub. The economy’s dependence on the military bases is down to about 5 per cent. “We’ve gone from being an economy that relies on bases to the bases holding us back,” said Masaki Tomochi, an economics professor at Okinawa International University and a leading light in the independence movement.
Mr Tomochi, who can see the Futenma base from his office, went to Scotland last year to support its campaign for independence from the UK and came back inspired. Okinawa was invaded by the Satsuma samurai in 1609, six years after King James I united the thrones of England and Scotland.
“Discrimination is not just in the past, it’s today — we’re still being discriminated against,” he says. “First we need everyone to know the history of the Ryukyus. Then we can think about the future.”
(記事、日本語へ翻訳中です)
- この記事の元になる英国フィナンシャル・タイムズの屋良朝助へのインタビューの内容が『琉球共和国への道、琉球独立 屋良朝助』として冊子になりました。(無料)、クリック
- このインタビューの一部の動画の案内ページ(クリック)
2015年11月5日 ジャパン−プラスネット
- http://japan-plus.net/895/
「沖縄県民の88％が民族自決権を希望」中国で報道
11月5日付のフィナンシャル・タイムズ・中国語版は、今年5月の琉球新報による世論
調査を引用する形で「沖縄では88％の県民が、さらに大きな自決権を持ちたいと考え
ている」と報道した。（英語版も同様）
フィナンシャル・タイムズの報道は、続けて、かりゆしクラブ党首 屋良朝助氏、琉
球独立学会の友知正樹共同代表へのインタビューを掲載している。記事全文を転載す
る。
なお、この記事はすでに複数の中国系メディアが報じており、中国の掲示板に多数転
載されている。
注意:パソコンによりリンクがうまく行かない場合があります
◆元記事：フィナンシャル・タイムズ 2015.11．5
中国語
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001064686
英語
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/7d8d444a-7ef1-11e5-a1fe-567b37f80b64.html
◆同じ記事を配信している中華系メディア
環球ネット
http://world.huanqiu.com/exclusive/2015-11/7916505.html
バイリンガルニュース(英語、中国語両方表示)
http://www.okread.info/page/read.php?ys=3&d=201511&q=29634
新浪ネット
http://news.sina.com.cn/o/2015-11-05/doc-ifxknutf1530776.shtml
財経ネット
http://blog.caijing.com.cn/expert_article-151632-87188.shtml
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