Opinion

Reckless military moves of the Japanese authorities have triggered a barrage of strong public protest at home.

The “Okinawa opinion advertisement movement”, a civic organization against the relocation of Futenma airport of the US forces in Okinawa to Henoko in Nago City, on June 4 put an opinion advertisement in Tokyo Shimbun, Minami Nippon Shimbun, The Okinawa Times and Ryukyu Shimbo. The ad said “Diplomacy rather than missile!” and “Don’t make Okinawa islands a battlefield!”, referring to the buildup of defence capacity of the government and the “deployment of SDF troops in Nansei islands”.

It also criticized the government for “turning the whole country into a theatre of war”, citing as examples Japan’s possession of counterattack capability (enemy base strike capacity) and increase of defense spendings.

In May a rally and demonstration took place in Okinawa in protest against the establishment of military bases of the US forces and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces.

Many citizens participating in the rally and demonstration protested the deployment of military bases of the US forces and the SDF, shouting a slogan “Don’t turn Okinawa into a battlefield!”

Japan is a war criminal nation that inflicted immeasurable misfortune and sufferings on humanity in the past century. But it is hell-bent on the preparations for a new war, being oblivious of the lessons of history.

The Japanese authorities have long since intensified contact between the SDF and the maritime security force and made constant efforts to perfect the joint operation preparedness, allegedly to cope with the “threat from neighbouring countries”.

They persistently involve the Maritime Safety Agency not only in the performance of duty of the guard of territorial waters but also in all kinds of military exercises, and even dispatch it to the joint military drills with other countries to be adept at enhancing the capacity to fight a war of aggression.

Typical examples are the joint military exercises Japan staged recently with NATO.

A combined military drill was conducted between the Japanese SDF and the US and French troops in the sea from Okinawa to the east coast of China and the air above it from June 7 and 10. Involved in the large-scale combined air drill between a NATO member nation and the Japanese Air SDF which started on June 12 in Europe were 10 000 military personnel, about 250 fighters and transport planes and others. The largest ever military drill for the deployment of air force units in NATO history, it was reportedly aimed at containing Russia.

The Japanese authorities also further increase the defence expenditure while deploying and reinforcing missiles on the pretext of sustainably expanding the SDF’s combat capabilities.

Japan’s arms buildup arouses heightened vigilance of the international community as it undermines regional peace and stability.

A spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry in a news conference on April 13 criticized Japan for drastically increasing the defence expenditure, developing attack weapons and pursuing the policy of possessing so-called “enemy base striking capacity” in recent years on the pretext of “China’s threat”, thereby further expanding armaments. This means Japan sent a danger signal that it tries to destroy the postwar international order to the region and the world as well, he said, adding the international community should naturally maintain high vigilance against it.

If the Japanese reactionaries continue to try to realize the wild ambition of overseas reinvasion, being oblivious of the ignominious defeat in the past, it would lead Japan to the miserable ruin of inviting a disaster by itself.