Japan's Okinawa, a reluctant host for US troops 80 years after WWII
As people globally commemorate the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II, the 72-year-old retired businessman is among many residents who oppose the American troops stationed on their island ever since.
He joins dozens of islanders in near-daily protests against the US forces.
The United States has around 54,000 military personnel stationed in Japan, mostly on Okinawa, and a string of incidents over the years, including sexual assault cases, have angered residents.
"For us, these crimes and accidents are not someone else's business, and we feel a pressing unease that we can't predict when these things may happen again," he told AFP, recalling the 1959 school incident.
"We want the bases to go."
The island region, a subtropical paradise with a huge tourism industry, hosts 70 percent of all American bases in Japan and serves as a key US outpost to monitor China, the Taiwan Strait and the Korean peninsula.
The bloody Battle of Okinawa near the end of the war led to the US occupation of the island until 1972, during which troops seized private land in Okinawa to expand their presence in what is locally known as a "bayonet and bulldozer" campaign.
During the Cold War, US troops in Okinawa were seen by Washington as a deterrent against the spread of communism.
Now, both Tokyo and Washington stress the strategic importance of Okinawa in the face of China's territorial ambitions. But residents have for years voiced their fury over a spate of crimes and accidents involving American soldiers and base personnel.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Wire
27 minutes ago
- The Wire
Why Gautam Adani is a Factor in India-US Ties
Why does Narendra Modi feel the need to protect Adani to that extent vis-à-vis the American investigators? We must get back to the genesis of their relationship in Gujarat to respond – partly – to this puzzle. Gautam Adani was not at all an important businessman before Narendra Modi helped him to grow in Gujarat as chief minister of the state. Adani was born in 1962 in Ratan Pol in the old city of Ahmedabad, his parents having migrated from north Gujarat. At the age of 18, he dropped out of Gujarat University and moved to Bombay, served a stint as a diamond sorter at Mahindra Bros. and then became a diamond trader. He moved to Ahmedabad in 1981 to help his brother, Mahasukh, who was starting a plastic-film manufacturing business. This company was heavily dependent on supplies of PVC. The sole producer of PVC in India at that time was IPCL, which used to supply two tonnes per month to the Adani brothers. But their rapidly growing business needed over 20 tonnes per month. Therefore, Adani began importing plastic granules through the Kandla port. The Adani group then diversified. In 1988, Gautam Adani set up a commodities trading venture called Adani Exports. In the next four years, his import orders grew from 100 metric tonnes (MT) orders to 40,000 MT. In 1991-92, Adani and agribusiness group Cargill were given 3,000 acres of coastal land in Kutch by the Chimanbhai Patel government for salt production. The project fell through after protests by George Fernandes and others, and Cargill pulled out. Adani held on to his land and began thinking of converting Mundra into a big port. In the framework of the nascent liberalisation, the Gujarat Maritime Board decided to allot ports to private companies in a joint venture with the state – an initial list of 10 ports was created, which included Mundra, which was 14m deep (deeper than Kandla at 12m) and allowed it to berth larger ships of 200,000 MT and above. In 1993, the company was incorporated into a limited company with two backers, Adani himself and Rajesh S. Adani, his younger brother. In 1997, Adani Exports Ltd. entered into a joint venture with the Gujarat government to build a mega port at Mundra. Around that time the Adani group established a base in Dubai, where two of the five Adani brothers were primarily in charge of the supply chain of Adani Exports. In 1999, Adani ventured into coal trading for the first time, with a shipment landing at Mundra. In 2000, Adani let P&O Australia, one of the world's largest port operators, set up a container terminal in Mundra. There is no evidence that Gautam Adani and Narendra Modi knew each other before the latter became chief minister, but they became very close soon after, in the aftermath of the 2002 pogrom. As this tragic episode of communal violence disrupted the state economy for weeks, businessmen including senior members of the Confederation of Indian Industry, criticised Modi. Rahul Bajaj, a senior member of the CII, described 2002 as a 'lost year for Gujarat' and challenged Modi with several 'tough questions' during a CII meeting in Delhi in February 2003, where Jamshyd Godrej also raised the issue. In November Azim Premji declared similarly at an IIM Ahmedabad seminar: 'Investors are wary of coming to Gujarat due to the lingering communal tensions in the state apart from its proximity to Pakistan.' Tarun Das, the then director-ceneral of the CII went to Gandhinagar one month after the meeting of the organisation during which Narendra Modi had been criticised in Delhi and told him that the CII leaders 'were very sorry for all that had happened.' But Gautam Adani and other CII members from Gujarat had already analysed the attitude of bigger businessmen from Gujarat as a great opportunity. They formed the 'Resurgent Group of Gujarat' in order to counter what they regarded as 'a concerted attempt by a section to defame Gujarat.' Among them were Dr Karsan Patel and Ambubhai Patel (Nirma group), Indravadan Modi (Cadila Pharmaceuticals), Pankaj Patel (Cadila Healthcares), Chintan Parikh (Ashima) Anil Bakeri (Bakeri group) and, last but not least, Gautam Adani who took a leading role. Like Modi, he was relatively isolated in 2002-03. He was not part of the business establishment either, as evident from his marginal position in terms of interlocking directorates. Both were newcomers to the high table of national politics on the one hand and big business on the other. Also read: Gautam Adani a 'Personal Matter': PM Modi Deflects Question; 'Covering Up Corruption,' Says Opposition When the first Vibrant Gujarat meeting took place in September-October 2003, Adani went further than his colleagues and pledged Rs 150 billion in investments. This was a major turning point of the Adani-Modi relationship: Modi could start to pay back for Adani's support, not only within the CII but in the context of his transition from the role of 'Hindu hriday samrat (ruler of Hindu hearts)' to that of ' vikas purush (one who would bring about development)'. The Adani Port and SEZ (APSEZ) at Mundra (Kutch district) was created the same year to provide cargo handling and other port services. It soon became India's first multi-product port-based SEZ, after Adani was granted 3,585 hectares (ha) of land, including 2,008 ha of forest and 990 ha of gauchar or village grazing land. Two converging investigations have alleged that the Adani Group bought this land, in one area, at a rate ranging from Re 1 to Rs 32 a square metre when the market rate was over Rs 1,500 rupees a square metre and, in another area, at the cost of Rs 10 rupees per sq. m., when the market price there was between Rs 700 and 800 per sq. m. In Mundra, Adani acquired up to 7,350 ha. Forbes argues, on the basis of the signed agreements, that for most of this area 'he got the 30-year, renewable leases for as little as one US cent a square meter (the rate made out at 45 cents a square meter). He in turn has sublet this land to other companies, including state-owned Indian Oil Co., for as much as US$ 11 a square meter. Between 2005 and 2007 at least 1,200 hectares of grazing land was taken away from villagers.' During the 2009 Vibrant Gujarat summit, the Modi government 'signed MoUs allowing the Adani group a Rs-150-billion expansion of its SEZ over the next 15 years. The government topped off its largesse of land to the Adani group with five-year tax breaks of over Rs 32 billion, almost four times what it had marked for redeveloping Kutch after the 2001 earthquake. Government data shows an investment of Rs 1.32 trillion in the Adani SEZ, port, and power plant, but only 38,875 jobs were created. That comes to an astonishing figure of Rs 33.8 million for creating one job...'. This is a clear indication of capital intensity – a question we'll return to below. In 2013, a CAG report pointed out that in the Adani Group's SEZ in Mundra '14 lease deeds for an area of 4,84,326 sq. mt. in MPSEZ were registered during the period from December 2008 to November 2011. However, the Collector had given permission to only one unit [...] Accordingly, the transfer of land admeasuring 4,65,728 sq. mt. by way of lease in the remaining 13 cases were irregular'. The CAG also indicted the Gujarat government for purchasing electricity from the Adani group at an abnormally high price. It pointed out that this 'non-adherence to the terms of Power Purchase Agreement led to short recovery of a penalty of Rs 1.60 billion and passing of undue benefit to a private firm'. In 2012, the Modi-Adani connection was targeted by Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party who, the year before, had taken part in anti-corruption campaigns along with Anna Hazare. He accused the Gujarat government of buying power from the Adani Group at Rs 5.45 per unit when the Gujarat Mineral Development Corporation had made a better offer. Gas was another source of income for the Adani group, as it had also acquired a monopolistic position in the supply of CNG in Ahmedabad. In its last report dealing with the Modi government in Gujarat, the CAG reiterated the critique it had made in 2012 against the Adani group and arraigned the Essar group too: "…The purchase of power from the private sector increased to 37.22% (2012-13) from 15.22% (2008-09). Of this increase, the share of Private IPPs in power purchased from private sector [the Adani and the Essar groups], increased to 82.75% (i.e. 22,562.17 million units) in 2012-13 from 66.59% (i.e. 5,653.24 million units) indicating an increase of 300% in purchase of power from them during 2008-09 to 2012-13." The Adani group was also targeted by environmentalists. The Gujarat Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA), in May 2006, formed a subcommittee which reported that the Adani Group had built many bunds in the inter-tidal area and blocked many creeks feeding water to the mangrove patches. To no avail. Four years later, in December 2010 the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) sent an inspection team to follow up on complaints from local inhabitants. The report presented after the visit found many instances of non-compliances. It made the same observations regarding large scale destruction of mangroves and obstruction of creek systems and natural flow of seawater because of reclamation. It made no difference. On September 14, 2012, the Minister of State of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Jayanthi Natarajan constituted a Committee under the Chairmanship of Sunita Nair, the Director General of CSE, for an inspection of Mundra port. It reached the same conclusions as its predecessors. Also read: 'Modi's Hands Tied Due to US Investigation into Adani,' Says Rahul Gandhi All the inspectors and experts have also observed that the Mundra thermal plants of Adani and Tata released fly ash, despite the terms of the 2007 clearance. In 2011 the Gujarat Pollution Control Board Inspection revealed that about 27,127 MT of fly ash was found to be dispersed in low-lying areas of the MPSEZ. The Sunita Nair committee made a similar observation. When Megha Bahree visited the place, she noticed that 'Fly ash and saline water from Adani Power and a nearby Tata Power Co. Ltd. plant are spoiling the crops and making the soil less fertile…'. The Sunita Nair committee recommended a Rs 2 billion environment restoration fund (ERF), but no penalty was imposed on either company by the government. In 2016, the Gujarat high court appointed another committee to enquire about the degradation caused by the Mundra port. It came to the same conclusion as its predecessor but, says environmentalist Mahesh Pandya, 'If you ask the Gujarat Pollution Control Board or the state environment and forest department how many notices they have served to the company, you will find none.' By the end of Modi's chief ministership, the combined market value of Adani Enterprises, Adani Power and Adani Ports and Special Economic Zones (APSEZ) were close to the value of Reliance Industries – whereas the Adani group was five hundred times smaller only 13 years before, in 2001. Indeed, the turnover of the group rose more than 20-fold, from Rs 37.41 billion in 2001-02 to Rs 756.59 billion in 2013-14. In fact, the rise of the Adani group accelerated in 2013 and 2014 when Modi became a strong contender to the post of Prime Minister: the market capitalisation of its companies increased by 250% between September 2013 – when Narendra Modi was declared the BJP's official candidate for prime ministership – and September 2014. Between September 2013 and May 2014, the wealth of Gautam Adani had already increased by Rs 501.31 billion because of the market capitalisation of his companies (it increased by Rs 18 billion every day during the week that followed Modi's electoral success). Mukesh Ambani's wealth increased by 'only' Rs 305.03 billion rupees (US$ 3.81 billion) during the same period. This sudden prosperity could be explained only by Adani's close relation with Narendra Modi – which became obvious when Modi used Adani's chartered plane on his campaign trail across India in the run-up to the 2014 elections. On May 22, 2014, the day he was sworn in as prime minister, he flew to New Delhi from Ahmedabad in Adani's private aircraft, the Indian flag embossed on the aircraft to his right, and on his left, an embossed logo of the Adani Group – the duo was transitioning from the state to the national level. Today's situation is the legacy of these Gujarat years which saw the making of a new oligarch. Since then, the mutual dependence has further deepened. Both men need each other in a very classic manner: the politician offers protection to the crorepatti who pays for his expenditures – including election campaigns whose cost represented billions of dollars in 2014, 2019 and 2024. Whether Narendra Modi can help Gautam Adani to escape from the American investigations remains to be seen as easily as from the Indian ones. In diplomatic relations, there are wheels within wheels. This article draws from my latest book: Gujarat under Modi. The Blueprint of Today's India, Bangalore, Westland/Context, 2024. Christophe Jaffrelot is Senior Research Fellow at CERI-Sciences Po/CNRS, Paris, Professor of Indian Politics and Sociology at King's College London, Non resident Scholar at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and Chair of the British Association for South Asian Studies. The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments. Advertisement
Indian Express
27 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Putin–Trump summit: Much ado about what exactly?
Any competent analyst or scholar of international relations knows that prior to a summit meeting, enormous amounts of preparation are necessary. An agenda is agreed upon, and the aides to the respective leaders burn the midnight oil to reach agreements in advance and iron out key differences. Only a few odds and ends are usually left to be tackled at the meeting itself. When the event convenes, the leaders confer to establish a new relationship or bolster an existing one and then turn to various public ceremonies as well as press conferences. The hastily convened summit between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his American counterpart Donald Trump raises profound questions about how much preparation for this conclave had been made in advance, especially on the American side. Before the meeting, Trump had proclaimed at least 53 times that he would end the war in Ukraine within 24 hours of assuming office. That, as is well known, failed to transpire. It is possible to endlessly speculate why Trump chose to pursue this meeting with Putin at such short notice. Some analysts have argued that he decided to meet with Putin primarily to see if he might boost his chances of getting the much-sought-after Nobel Prize. Thus far, for all his putative negotiating skills, he has not made any real headway in tamping down any conflict of consequence, such as the brutal ongoing war in the Gaza Strip. Even pulling off a temporary ceasefire in Ukraine could have been spun into a tale of his ability to terminate a sanguinary war. His motivations for meeting Putin aside, little or nothing was accomplished in Anchorage, Alaska. All that was agreed upon was that the two sides would continue their discussions. However, the lack of preparation on the American side and Trump's eagerness to meet Putin resulted in an outcome that granted the Russian President multiple easy PR victories. At the outset, Putin was able to step on American soil after a decade. Not only was he able to do so, but it was because of nothing short of a presidential invitation. In the process, a national leader, who has been under indictment since 2023 at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague for war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, suddenly acquired an aura of legitimacy in the global order. After all, no less than the President of the United States rolled out a red carpet to greet him on American soil. The contrast in terms of protocol with Trump's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House in February of this year could not have been more striking. At that meeting, Trump's Vice-President J D Vance had publicly berated him, no doubt at Trump's behest. Even Zelenskyy's choice of attire at the meeting had come under criticism. At this meeting in Anchorage, Putin not only received the red-carpet treatment but was also granted other rare privileges. Without any aides (or even interpreters) accompanying them, Trump invited Putin to join him briefly in the heavily armoured presidential limousine (popularly referred to as 'The Beast'), a gesture that is even rarely accorded to the leaders of allied nations. This sight left many American observers downright aghast. And what did Trump get in return from Putin for all this pomp and fanfare? It appears that he mostly failed to move the needle even the slightest bit in terms of bringing an end to the vicious conflict in Eastern Europe. Far from stopping Russia, Trump could not even induce Putin to commit to a ceasefire. As the summit drew to a close, at a joint press conference, neither leader answered any questions. Later, Trump claimed that significant progress had been made in terms of ending the war. However, he did not proffer any details about what, if anything, had been accomplished. Putin, on the other hand, with some evident glee, announced that he had invited Trump to another meeting in Moscow and that the US President had accepted his invitation. In the meantime, the Ukraine war continues unabated. It is not known whether Trump will brief America's European allies, let alone Zelenskyy, about what transpired in his discussions with Putin. What, however, is more than apparent is that this much hyped but hastily convened meeting has little or nothing to show for it. For all of Trump's much-vaunted negotiating skills, his lack of attention to detail, his unwillingness to pay heed to professional (and regional) knowledge and expertise, and his fondness for fanfare at the cost of substance have yielded yet another hollow outcome for American foreign policy. The only one who has emerged victorious from this ill-conceived summit is Vladimir Putin. Most importantly, he has greatly benefited from this meeting without making any concessions in the war in Ukraine. The writer is a senior fellow and directs the Huntington Programme on strengthening US-India relations at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University
Time of India
27 minutes ago
- Time of India
Indian tricolour hoisted atop Seattle's iconic Space Needle in historic first
In a historic first, the Indian tricolour flew atop Seattle's Space Needle on India's 79th Independence Day, symbolizing the strong ties between India and the Pacific Northwest. The celebration, attended by dignitaries and the Indian-American community, highlighted the diaspora's contributions to Seattle's tech industry. Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads Tired of too many ads? Remove Ads The Indian tricolour was hoisted at Seattle's iconic 605-feet-tall Space Needle on India's 79th Independence Day, the first time that a foreign nation's flag was raised at the popular American General of India in Seattle Prakash Gupta along with Mayor of Seattle Bruce Harrell and other select dignitaries from the Seattle city leadership, joined the historic and landmark occasion."No greater honour than this ! Raising the Tiranga on top of Seattle skyline at Space Needle," Gupta said in a post on X, along with a video of the tricolour flying high atop the iconic Seattle monument with sprawling views of the city the commemoration a "historic first in Seattle", the Consulate General of India in Seattle said the celebration underscored the contributions of the Indian-American diaspora in shaping the city's journey as a tech hub in the US Pacific a community reception was hosted by the Consulate at the scenic Kerry Park, with India's flag on top of the Space Needle in the backdrop.A large number of Indian-American community members turned up to witness the historic sight, the Consulate said in a press reception was attended by several dignitaries including US Congressman Adam Smith, Chief Justice of the Washington Supreme Court Debra Stephens, Seattle Port Commissioner Sam Cho and Superintendent/Director of Seattle Parks and Recreation AP the gathering, Smith welcomed the historic celebration, noting that the Indian tricolour's hoisting atop the Space Needle is a tribute to the region's diversity and the strong bonds between India and the Pacific a special gesture to honour India's Independence Day in the Greater Seattle area, King County, which covers 39 cities, along with Seattle, Spokane, Tacoma and Bellevue, issued official proclamations marking August 15 as India several iconic buildings across Seattle were also lit up in the Indian tricolours. These included the Lumen Stadium, T-Mobile Stadium, Westin, Seattle Great Wheel and Space Indian flag was also hoisted at the prestigious Tacoma Dome, Tacoma City Hall and at the Headquarters of Tacoma Police and Fire Departments, the Consulate said.A vibrant cultural extravaganza featuring national anthems, along with dance performances showcasing the rich diversity of Indian art forms as well as a poetic recital by renowned artist and actor Piyush Mishra also enthralled those attending the special celebrations.
