By Zhou Yongsheng and Wang Shan

Recently, residents of Okinawa once again gathered in front of the US's Kadena Air Force Base, protesting against a series of sexual assault incidents involving the US troops stationed in Japan. This May, the Okinawa prefectural police arrested a male service member of the US Marine Corps stationed in Okinawa for committing sexual violence against a woman, causing bodily harm. 

In addition, it was reported that an airman from Kadena Air Force Base was accused in March this year of kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 16-year-old girl last December. The Okinawa Prefectural Government did not learn of this incident until it was exposed in the news nearly three months after the indictment.

The US military stationed in Okinawa of Japan have a long history of crimes. According to statistics from Okinawa Prefecture, the US troops and their families in Okinawa committed about 6,200 crimes including murder, rape, robbery and other serious crimes from 1972 to 2023.

Before 1879, Okinawa was an independent country known as the Ryukyu Kingdom. As a result of historical factors, the sense of belonging to Japan is not strong among Okinawans. Furthermore, many residents view the US troops stationed in Japan, under the guise of "protecting Japan's national security", as an occupying force. They believe that the numerous misdeeds of the US military severely impact their lives and assert that the US military bases have brought a heavy burden to the local area.

In Japanese political circles, it is often said that opposing the establishment of bases in Okinawa and the stationing of US troops in Okinawa is anti-US and anti-Japan acts. In spite of that, successive Okinawa governors have maintained their opposition, which is not only because of their disgust for the abuses of the US "occupying forces", but also for economic considerations. 

Over the past 50 years, Okinawa has had more than 70 percent of US military bases in Japan, but has not developed an independent economy. This is largely because the US military bases occupy the best land in Okinawa, and issues such as noise, building height restrictions, and flight safety concerns reduce the willingness of external companies to invest and set up factories. The US military bases have become the biggest obstacle to local economic development.

In the future, only when the US military bases withdraw from Okinawa can investment be effectively attracted, production expanded, and overseas labor drawn in. Although Okinawa Prefecture has proposed to effectively utilize the advantages of Japan's only special international logistics zone (International Distribution Base and Industry Cluster Zone), actively promote the settlement ofenterprises, improve the development plan of logistics infrastructure construction, and provide corresponding preferential policies, the US military bases and the large number of US troops are still a nightmare for local people who intend to gather various industries from all sides and revitalize the Okinawa's economy.

(The authors are respectively a professor at the Institute of International Relations and deputy director of the Center for Japanese Studies at China Foreign Affairs University, and a Ph.D. candidate at China Foreign Affairs University.)

Editor's note: Originally published on opinion.huanqiu.com, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.