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© KYODOOkinawa rejects court order to OK revised U.S. base transfer plan
NAHA, Japan©2025 GPlusMedia Inc.
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Paul
So court order can be rejected?
WA4TKG
Too bad, it’s a done deal, just like stealing the Kingdom and annexing it like they did, centuries ago
Yubaru
Biased reporting again! It's some "locals" and a hell of a lot of "imports"
Yubaru
In a case like this yes. What it does, if you read the article, then puts the responsibility on the national government to sign the necessary documentation for the work to continue.
This was the expected outcome. There really isnt anything here news wise, other than it's an unusual step, but not unprecedented. Go research Narita, and the initial court cases regarding this landfill.
Oh and check out the history about Governor Ota and his refusal to sign the base lease agreements.
The word "unprecedented" loses it's meaning when facts are included in the discussion.
zibala
from the densely-populated Ginowan amid staunch opposition from locals,
Lots of space up north in and past Nago.
quercetum
Ryukyuu was a nation annexed and so a court order is just the least of what the Japanese central government can do.
Yubaru
What difference does something that, for all intents and purposes, happened officially in 1868, do with TODAY?
I mean really now, folks have just got to get with things today! These types of comments are down right ludicrous.
I suppose you think everyone down here walks around wearing kimono's and have geta on their feet too!
deanzaZZR
And that Dear JT readers is called a mandate.
commanteer
This comes as a surprise to many people since they apparently don't teach world history anymore, but that's how the world worked until recently. If you want to return to some "idyllic" historic border of a few centuries ago you will have to dissolve the entire global order. USA, China, Sweden, Egypt, Italy, etc... all gone.
That said, Okinawa often gets the short end of the stick from Tokyo. But don't we all?
TokyoLiving
Let's go Okinawa..
Please Japan, have a little dignity..
Send back invaders..
yakyak
"After the invasion of Satsuma in 1609, Ryukyu became a part of Japan's shogunate system."
study your history.........
smithinjapan
"The Okinawa prefectural government decided Monday to ignore a court order to approve a modified plan for a key U.S. base relocation within the southern prefecture, paving the way for the state to take the unprecedented step of doing so by proxy."
Meanwhile, Danny Tamaki will continue to hold out his hands to the central government for the money to host the bases with absolutely zero protest.
indigo
Kishida insults the court system that allows appeals. Kishida has acknowledged that the puppet court has no meaning and has been instrumentalized.
Tamaki has the right to appeal and protect the democracy of its people who want to stop the US base proliferation.
indigo
Ryukyuu was a nation annexed, Japan controlled by the US had no respect for other opinions and properties.
BertieWooster
Okinawa clearly doesn't want more US bases. House them somewhere else. Preferably in US territory.
Macca
They should be relocated to an unpopulated island, or perhaps relocating them to South Korea is a viable option too if Japan were to scrap its American-written-pacifist-constitution. Japan with a military around its WW2 era's level can fend off the Chinese on their own.
indigo
The US wants Japan to pay for the US army. the base is the key point for the scam and the occupation.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Not and retake Okinawa after it has been invaded.
Samit Basu
@Macca
There are no uninhabited island large enough to house a military base for 8,000 marines.
Koreans don't want Futenma marines.
That would require the restoration of conscription. And if LDP restores conscription, then you can finally see the real regime change in Japan as angry voters will kick LDP out of power in the next election.
Samit Basu
@TaiwanIsNotChina
China doesn't want to occupy Okinawa; they just want Okinawa to be independent and become pro-China, that's all.
Once Americans and Japanese are gone, Okinawa can become Hawaii of Asia with Chinese investments.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I will note the effect is the same. Maybe the Chinese would even put up with a puppet regime in Okinawa for a few decades before just adding it to the PRC.
M
Technically, Okinawa want USA to leave the Island, which is understable after so long. They are problematic when they are in a country or a region. They manipulate election and décision through corruption and black ops.
Okinawa people leave under discrimination by Japan. They suffer the US military base and we don’t know much about the effort done by Tokyo to alleviate their burden. They should be very reach and tourist zone by now. But for USA security, this is probably forbidden to do a lot of thing to develop the island.
It is time to speak about choosing another Island. They can stay in Hawai. For Japan safety on long term, it is important they go back to Hawaï. And the new base will just replace USA by SDF that will do the same. This is understandable to block the project for Okinawa if they want a future without military regulation on site.
This is about « living normally again » too.
kwatt
It is amazing that the governor stands tall against government. This is first time Tamaki did. Former all other governors have not been done this.
Uchujin
The US army should leave Japan and Japan assume their security.
WA4TKG
lol
kwatt
US Army in Japan? I thought there are US Air Force, Navy and Marine.
Wesley
Wow, what a coincidence. Hong Kong, Tibet and Taiwan ALSO want to be independent. Let's see the chiNazis support that first before interfering with Okinawa.
Christopher Mas Osan
The base is being moved. It is a done deal. This guy Tamaki needs to go. Okinawa is too of an important of a strategic jumping off point to protect Japan from its adversaries. And for those thinking China would not invade Okinawa or mainland Japan?
Well now. Here are some facts for you.
On Dec. 16, 2022, China extended its threats against Taiwan to include a more direct move against Japan—and its treaty ally, the United States. The Liaoning aircraft carrier sailed quietly east between Okinawa and Miyako islands, of Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, sandwiching the Japanese territory with China’s mainland to the west.
Between Dec. 17 and 22, 2023 the Chinese navy flew a total of 180 fighter jets and helicopters from the carrier in an apparent drill against the Nansei island chain, also known as the Ryukyu Islands, which includes Okinawa, where the United States has several military bases. This elevated threat threshold, along with the increasing assertiveness of other Chinese actions such as the spy balloon incident, brings new dynamics and risks to Okinawa itself.
China has conducted drills on the eastern side of the island of Taiwan before, wading into Japanese territorial waters, but historically it stayed closer to Taiwan. This time, China’s navy sailed deliberately between two islands deep in Japanese territory, in what looked like training to deal with the larger U.S.-Japan defensive stronghold. Speeches, jamming or interfering with information channels, nearby missile tests, and buzzing jets over Taiwan have become expected forms of pressure from China. But steering an aircraft carrier east of the Nansei islands, past waters Japan designates for the U.S. military, was a far stronger move.
These drills occurred near waters and airspace the United States uses for training, an area Japan and the United States consider the more secure side of Okinawa. To some degree, such moves by China is a regular reaction to events around Taiwan, where China frequently saber-rattles in response to the island’s defense efforts. The United States and Japan had just signed large defense spending bills to assist Taiwan. But Okinawa also has a significance of its own.And for the record.
Yet given the strategic value of Okinawa, the island may be doomed to be contested by larger powers. Chinese revanchists often point to the island as a potential claim for Beijing itself, based on the tributary relationship between the Ryukyu Kingdom and the Qing empire. Beijing has made use of these claims itself during disputes with Tokyo over other island territories.
So, I would say China would be all in to taking back what they believed to be rightfully Chinese sovereignty. The islands of Okinawa.
Yubaru
Right, so the US is still a part of the U.K., just using your "logic"
Don't know much about history do you? If this is true, then why are China and Japan friends? Oh wait, the Chinese that Japan fought during the war are the Chinese Nationalists who fled to Taiwan AFTER WW2.
So the Chinese on Taiwan are the one's Japan is still at war with?
What ludicrous comments you made!
xin xin
This Tamaki guy is playing straight into the hands of the Chinese. He should be replaced somehow by a more sensible person.
Triring
Honestly the two Okinawa newspapers needs to have their editors changed.
Both Okinawa Times and Okinawa Shinpo are both too biased to provide their readers a balanced news. They both agitate their readers like Asahi Newspaper that had lost more than 30% of their readers due to Seiji Yoshida Fiasco, completely neglecting their journalist's duty to fact check before publishing a story which turned out to be completely fabricated which led to the present Ianfu problem and till this day Asahi Newspaper had not published a proper correction to the articles nor a public aplogy in publishing fabricated articles.
Yubaru
Ha! Be a cold day in hell before either happen! Their BS sells papers!
smithinjapan
xin xin: "This Tamaki guy is playing straight into the hands of the Chinese. He should be replaced somehow by a more sensible person."
Exactly, and as well as Tamaki holding out his hands for money from the government as he pretends to stand against them, he also quiets down every time a Chinese sub gets close, and some who support him have even said along the likes of, "The US is here to defend us if China attacks!" Like Tamaki, they want it both ways.
quercetum
The Communists fought the Japanese. Japan the Communists more. The nationalists were busy pocketing the U.S. aid. Then Communists were the ones who advocated the united front against Japan.
Okinawa is different from Taiwan. China considers Taiwan a province of China and the same according to tge Constitution of Taiwan Republic of China.
The Ryukyu is more a vassal state like Vietnam unlike Taiwan.
TaiwanIsNotChina
Utterly ridiculous. As the official government of China, the KMT did the actual battles against the Japanese. And we all know that eventually the CCP would win only because of Soviet aid.
The assumption should be that the China would be happy to break Okinawa off from Japan.
Yubaru
And which is "utterly ridiculous?" Seems to me you dont know either!
DanteKH
What a mascarade.
Yubaru
FYI the "nationalists" are the Chinese KMT not the communists! My statement is 100% correct!
You put two totally separate comments into one to attempt to make some point! Next time dont put words into someone's mouth as it makes you look .....
I wrote this
I did NOT write this!
Get things right!
Peter14
Everyone wanting to send the US out of Japan clearly wants Japan to be invaded by, and ruled by China. Do you all really imagine a better life for Japanese under Chinese rule? You can see how they treat their own people, and they have little love for Japanese people.
If you think things are bad with the US alliance and their bases here that provide a deterrence, to stop Chinese expansion, what will life be like with the US gone?
No, China will not be a good friend to Japan, or any type of friend with Japan, unless Japan remains on its knees in subservience to China and its expansion. China will take over and Japan alone can not stop them. And they would take over, do not delude yourself otherwise.
Okinawa thinks of itself and not the national good. And its thinking is clearly flawed if they think China will be a better nation to be apart of than Japan.
deanzaZZR
Ridiculous. China's current defense build up is in direct response the ring of US military bases on its periphery. China will not be the victim of imperialism again.
China's national ambition is to complete the unification of China with the incorporation of the island of Taiwan. After that all would be much more peaceful if the US pulled back to Guam or wherever it wants to on US territories. The Asia century is for Asians.
Triring
Okinawa demanding anti-US bases is completely the wrong way. They should focus on binding a stronger relationship with Taiwan instead.
Presently Taiwan has more economic power per capita than Mainland China and Taiwan wants to tie a stronger relationship with Japan. Okinawa having a closer geological distance with Taiwan is in an ideal position acting as a focal point to strengthen relationship between Japan and Taiwan.
Agent_Neo
Before you start complaining about the United States or Japan, the premise is wrong if no one takes issue with China's military expansion.
If you look at what China has done to Hong Kong and the Philippines, and what it is trying to do to Taiwan, there are no limits to China's territorial desires.
China will make the American mainland its territory if it can get it.
They are even aiming to send large numbers of Chinese to the border with Russia and make it their territory. This is why we have territorial disputes with India, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Independence of Okinawa? That's impossible. China's goal is to turn Okinawa into Chinese territory. Many people can't see the map, but if China controls Okinawa, the Chinese Navy will be able to freely move out into the Pacific Ocean.
Of course, there is America ahead.
TaiwanIsNotChina
It will stay in its cage, though, or there will be a major war.
Again implying China will go to war with Japan and South Korea. Looks like it is going to continue to be a US century.
Yubaru
You comment like Okinawa is a sovereign country. Taiwan and Japan are allies.
quercetum
I’m surprised by your ignorance. One shouldn’t assume I guess. The United Front. They had to kidnapped Chiang Kai-shek to force the KMT to partner with the Communists to fight the Japanese.
In terms of “actual” fighting, no one would say the Communists didn’t fight the Japanese.
TaiwanIsNotChina
I didn't say they didn't fight at all, just not on the battlefield like the KMT. And of course the communists wanted a united front because their whole game is infiltration and corruption from within.
Mocheake
These are just face-saving measures because it won't matter as the new base is a foregone conclusion. Someone needs to tell Denny & crew, although I think they are aware, that they control nothing in this situation.
Triring
Like us both, both nations knows this. The question is does either Denny or the Okinawa Chinese sympathizer knows it?
Before COVID(CCP Flu), Chinese tourist flooded Okinawa and the two Okinawa local news paper companies were also flooded with Chinese ads. Now both suddenly drying up, the Okinawa local government as well as the local economy is now stuck between a rock and hard place with all the Chinese money flowing in boldening them to go against the central government, now with Chinese money drying up they hav no place to lower their fists.
Denny being too proud can't take back their demands but requires funds to be injected into the local economy. Taiwan would be the logical choice without showing weakness against the cnetral government to his constituents.
Now Taiwan and Japan can play good cop bad cop to force Denny into submission without Denny losing face completely.
Peter14
As with so many things in China, this history is false. The facts are the KMT nationals did the bulk of the fighting against Japan, while Communist forces saved themselves to fight the Nationalists after the war with Japan was over, giving them an advantage by keeping most of their forces intact. The CCP has altered the facts and changed history to favor the Communists and truth plays no part in their narrative.
Agent_Neo
Changing history in China is a regular occurrence, and convenient things are passed on to the people as propaganda.
And inconvenient things, like the high-speed train that caused the accident, will never come to light if they are buried underground.
No one really trusts what the Chinese Communist Party says, but in every country there are aspects of the Chinese Communist Party exerting influence through money.
Christopher Mas Osan
Technically, Okinawa want USA to leave the Island, which is understable after so long. They are problematic when they are in a country or a region. They manipulate election and décision through corruption and black ops.
Black Ops in Okinawa. LOL. I fell out of my office chair on this one in hysterics. My stomach hurts so bad from laughing. Black ops in Okinawa, election interference, awe come on now. And learn to spell or you are not taken seriously here.
Mission impossible music starts.......
Here comes the U.S. black ops spooks guys! Look out for those Japanese imposters. Those American born Japanese who speak fluent Uchinaaguchi operatives trying to blend in and infiltrate, and sabotage our rallying against the movement. Here to change the minds of the masses through rallies and social media saturation. Come on.....Seriously?
The Bull dung is getting deep in here.
The US Senate and Congress would never allow such an operation. Um, yeah sheer lunacy.....