英字新聞

May 17, 2014
EDITORIAL: Heavy-handed approach to Futenma can only antagonize Okinawa
辺野古移設―これが熱望した祖国か

An extraordinary situation concerning the proposed relocation of the U.S. military’s Futenma base is unfolding in Okinawa, which marked the 42nd anniversary of its reversion to Japan on May 15.
　この１５日に本土復帰から４２年を迎えた沖縄県で、米軍普天間飛行場（宜野湾市）の移設をめぐって、異常ともいえる事態が進行している。

The Japanese government is aggressively pushing ahead with preparations for carrying out its plan to relocate Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in the crowded city of Ginowan to the sparsely populated Henoko district of Nago, another city in the prefecture.
　名護市辺野古への移設をめざす政府が、強引に工事の準備に取りかかっているのだ。

On April 11, the Abe administration took its first step toward building the new base when the Okinawa Defense Bureau, the Defense Ministry’s local bureau in charge of implementing the plan, submitted six requests with Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine. One of the requests was for use of the Henoko fishing port as an open storage yard for construction materials.
　まず動きがあったのは４月１１日。政府の担当部局である沖縄防衛局が工事に先立ち、資材置き場として使う辺野古漁港の使用許可申請など６件の申請書を、名護市長宛てに提出した。

The move was made abruptly without any advance consultation. Officials at the defense bureau brought the applications into the Nago city office just before the end of the office hours. Some of the application documents were left with the wrong departments.
　それは事前調整もなく突然のことだった。防衛局職員が持ち込んだのは市役所の閉庁間際。提出先を間違え、他の部署に置いて帰った書類もある。

The documents unilaterally set a May 12 deadline for replying to the requests, although there is no legal basis for such a deadline. There were also many errors in the documents, such as omissions.
　文書には、根拠のない「回答期限」が一方的に設定されていたほか、記載漏れなどの不備が目立った。

Although the Nago municipal government asked the bureau to resubmit the applications, the bureau has refused to do so, saying the documents were in order.
　名護市は再提出を求めたが、防衛局は「適正だった」と拒んだまま。

The unilaterally set May 12 deadline has passed, but the bureau remains intent on forging ahead with the construction plan while assuming that its requests have been turned down by the city.
期限とした５月１２日は過ぎた。防衛局は許可が得られなかったものとして、計画を進めるという構えを崩さない。

Bewildered by the bureau’s attitude, the official in charge of the matter at the Nago municipal government said, “Since the applications don’t meet the formal requirements, we can’t start reviewing them.”
　市の担当者は「申請書の形式を満たしておらず、審査に入れない」と戸惑う。

In January, when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe spoke about the plan to move the Futenma air base to the Henoko district, he said, “We intend to proceed with the plan in a sincere manner while trying to win the understanding of the local communities.”
　普天間飛行場の辺野古移設について、安倍首相は１月に「地元の皆様のご理解をいただきながら、誠意を持って前に進めていきたい」と語った。

But the reality belies his words. There has been no sign of good faith in the way the administration has been dealing with the matter.
　ところが、現状は見ての通り。誠意のかけらもない。

The heavy-handed approach the government adopted appears to be an open challenge to Mayor Inamine, who was re-elected in January by running on a campaign to stop the relocation of the Funtenma base to Nago. After his re-election, he pledged to block the start of the construction of the new base by using his powers as the mayor.
　１月の名護市長選で移設反対を訴えて再選され、「権限を行使して着工を阻止する」と表明した稲嶺進市長に挑むような、強硬姿勢だ。

The government plans to start drilling into the seabed for necessary investigations as early as June with an eye on beginning reclamation work next spring.
　政府は６月以降、海底ボーリング調査を開始し、来春にも埋め立て工事に着手する予定だ。

However, the government has offered no convincing answers to concerns about possible major negative effects on the environment and people’s lives. It is feared that in addition to causing noise and other nuisances to local residents, the runways of the envisioned base, which would extend over water from the U.S. military's existing Camp Schwab, would also have a serious impact on the marine ecosystem that nurtures dugong, a rare marine mammal designated by the government as a protected species, and a coral reef community.
　しかし、国の天然記念物のジュゴンやサンゴの群落など、近海の豊かな生態系への影響や騒音など、環境や生活に大きな支障が出るという心配に、政府は納得いく説明をしていない。

If it wants to win the “understanding of the local communities,” the government needs to respond head-on to these concerns.
　「地元の理解」を得るには、まず地元の心配に正面から答えなくてはならない。

There has been growing support for Okinawa’s opposition to the base relocation plan among intellectuals and politicians overseas. American film director Oliver Stone, for instance, has issued a statement opposing the project.
　米国の映画監督オリバー・ストーンさんらが移設反対の声明を出すなど、海外の知識人や政治家の間に、沖縄への理解が広まりつつある。

In an effort to convince the U.S. public of the unfairness of the relocation plan, Inamine left for a trip to the United States on May 15.
米国世論に移設の不当性を直接訴えたいと１５日、稲嶺市長が渡米した。

On the same day, Abe announced that the administration will start considering a change of the government’s interpretation of the Constitution to make it possible for Japan to exercise its right to collective self-defense.
　同じ１５日、安倍首相は集団的自衛権の行使容認の検討を表明した。

Does this controversial initiative represent the nation to which Okinawa wanted so eagerly to return when it was occupied by the U.S. military and denied the benefits of the pacifist Constitution?
それは、平和憲法の及ばない米軍占領下、沖縄が復帰を熱望した祖国の姿だろうか。

The stern-faced government that is forging ahead with the plan to relocate the base within the prefecture in the face of strong local opposition cannot embody the country to which Okinawa wanted to belong.
　まして、反対いまだ根強い県内移設にひたすら突き進む、こわばった顔つきの国が、望んだ祖国であるはずもない。

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 17