Tokyo — Japan’s authorities is asking for stricter oversight of U.S. troops stationed within the nation after a soldier was charged over the alleged sexual assault of a Japanese teenager in Okinawa. Prosecutors within the southern island area charged the U.S. soldier in March, prime authorities spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi instructed reporters on Tuesday.
Native media stated the 25-year-old man had been accused of assault, including that he knew the woman was below 16, the age of consent in Japan.
The federal government expressed “remorse” to U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel over the incident and known as for stronger oversight of conduct by navy personnel, Hayashi stated.
Okinawa accounts for simply 0.6% of Japan’s land mass however hosts about 70% of all of the U.S. navy bases and services within the nation.
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A litany of base-related woes has lengthy grieved Okinawans, from air pollution and noise to helicopter crashes and COVID-19 outbreaks, resulting in complaints that they bear the brunt of internet hosting troops.
The 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old woman by three U.S. troopers in Okinawa prompted widespread requires a rethink of a 1960 pact that outlined the authorized standing of Japan-based U.S. navy personnel.
Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki voiced his “sturdy indignation” on the newest case.
“That one thing like this was finished to a minor not solely causes nice worry to native residents residing side-by-side with U.S. bases however tramples on the dignity of ladies,” he instructed reporters. “The extreme burden of internet hosting navy bases is an on a regular basis matter for us, and is insupportable.”
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Anti-base sentiment in Okinawa has been displayed particularly over a plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
Whereas the central authorities desires to maneuver the bottom to a much less populated a part of Okinawa’s principal island, many locals would like it’s transferred elsewhere within the nation. A nationwide ballot by broadcaster NHK in 2022 discovered 80% of Japanese think about the present disproportionate distribution of U.S. forces “incorrect” or “considerably incorrect.”
The most recent level of take a look at for U.S.-Japanese ties comes at an important time, with concern over nuclear-armed North Korea‘s ongoing weapons exams rising together with stress between Washington and China over Beijing’s more and more assertive stance on Taiwan’s standing and its territorial disputes with different nations.
