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Thousands of Protesters Ring Military Base Ahead of G-8 Summit
Tens of thousands of protesters on Thursday formed a chain around a major US air base in a show of opposition to the American military presence in Okinawa just before Bill Clinton's visit for this weekend's Group of Eight summit.
Organizers claimed to have mobilized more than 25,000 people for the chain, which stretched 17 kilometers (11 miles) around Kadena air base, one of the largest US military installations in Japan.
There was no independent confirmation of the protesters' numbers, but the demonstration appeared to be one of the largest anti-base protests in years. In several areas, the protesters stood three or four deep. Many wore headbands with anti-base slogans and came with their children.
``As teachers, we have vowed never to send our students to war again,'' said Isao Kaneshiro, head of a local teachers' union. ``I want President Clinton to know that we don't want his troops here.''
The protest, organized by local labor unions and civic groups, was peaceful, and there were no immediate reports of arrests.
The protest was held as the G-8 leaders were to begin arriving on Okinawa on Thursday for their annual summit, which starts Friday and lasts through Sunday.
Most of the leaders held bilateral meetings in Tokyo before flying on to Okinawa. Clinton was to hold a meeting with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori on Thursday, but postponed that at the last minute to finish the Mideast peace talks being held in the United States.
US Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers stood in for Clinton Thursday in Tokyo at pre-G-8 meeting with developing countries. He was accompanied by Gene Sperling, the national economic adviser, and Lael Brainard, deputy national economic adviser.
The G-8 consists of the United States, Japan, Russia, England, Italy, Canada, Germany and France. The group has held summits each year for the past 25 years. This is the fourth summit Japan has hosted, and the first it has held outside of Tokyo.
This year's summit was expected to focus on information technology and ways to alleviate the ``Digital Divide,'' money laundering and financial crimes, debt relief for the world's poorest nations and the global economy in general.
Clinton would be the first American president to visit Okinawa, which was governed by Washington after Japan's World War II surrender until 1972, 20 years after the occupation of the rest of Japan had ended.
Nearly 30,000 of the 47,000 US troops in Japan are stationed on Okinawa, including the largest contingent of Marines outside the United States. Many Okinawans feel that the presence is too heavy, and want it reduced or eliminated.
``Most Okinawans welcome the summit,'' said an editorial Thursday in the Ryukyu Shimpo, one of Okinawa's main newspapers. ``But there are concerns as well. We are concerned that the bases, which cause such damage to us, will be praised by the summit leaders.''
Because of the controversy over the bases, security for the summit has been extremely tight. Some 22,000 police, most flown in from other parts of Japan, have been deployed on Okinawa.
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