Forum - View topicINTEREST: Hayao Miyazaki Appointed As Joint Leader of Fund Opposing Relocation of Okinawan Military
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Kadmos1
 Posts: 13627 Location: In Phoenix but has an 85308 ZIP |
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Miyazaki+politics=Potential ANN forum flame wars.
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Kougeru
 Posts: 5608 |
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I never understood this...
ELI5, but how does getting money stop the TWO GOVERNMENTS agreement to move a military base? I imagine they could get 20 million dollars..or even 2 billion and the government still won't change their mind. |
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SaitoHajime101
 Posts: 286 |
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Its not about the money, its about the publicity. If there's enough money in the pool, it means there's enough interest from certain parties to lobby for a change in the decision. Depending on the parties involved and the amount of influence they have in politics, it could change the spot, even if its not by much. Any amount of change in the decision is a win for the party Miyazaki is affiliating with. A move of a military base takes a ton of time (won't happen over night).
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partially
Posts: 702 Location: Oz |
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Yep. Much like politicians love to waste millions on political election campaigns it is the same thing. Money is used to fund advertising campaigns, get the word out... bribe. All that good stuff.
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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I hear a lot about this on NHK, but no good alternative. It's not like the US could move out of Okinawa, it's too important a military base for Asia's security. Are these just a pro-Chinese occupation faction?
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Tempest_Wing
Posts: 305 |
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If the US completely disappeared from Japan, I think China's push toward owning the Senkakus could become more than just talk and could in fact inflame the already rising nationalism in Japan.
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MarshalBanana
 Posts: 5529 |
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So what is this base used for? Post WWII when they occupying Japan and used during the cold war makes sense. But what use is there for it now.
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Hiroki not Takuya
 Posts: 2711 |
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A "base of operations" is what it is for and an important one if the US needs to help Japan or Taiwan someday to fend off Chinese aggression. Ships at sea need someplace to get fuel, food and maintenance and large airplanes supporting military action need someplace to land, but if they need to motor down to Australia to get those, they may not be around when needed.
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Amiantos
Posts: 345 |
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China on a daily basis loves to scramble their fighters to try and push their air space more and more. Not to mention that area is a huge world wide shipping route so if China takes control of it and blocks off or limits, it can have a world wide economic impact. Then while I doubt it will ever happen outside of Osan and Kunsan, Okinawas bases are the quickest to reach Korea in case of war. |
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Hameyadea
 Posts: 3679 |
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Having a foreign country's military base around "to ensure security" sends the message that the country in which the base is located (in this case, Japan) is weak and unable to defend itself when the time comes. Be it true or not, it can rub people the wrong way, especially if you add nationalism sentiment into the mix.
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Ohoni
Posts: 3421 |
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Yeah, it's not about Japan, really, it's not like "keeping Japan in line" or anything, it's because the region needs for there to be a big US base in an area within reasonable distance of Japan, China, Korea, and SE Asia. Hawaii is too far away. It's important not just to deter Chinese and NK aggression, but even outside of warfare it's important as a staging area for US relief efforts in the region in situations of natural disasters. There's just no other reasonable option.
Yeah, but Japan IS weak and unable to defend themselves, largely by design. And it's not the hawks that want the US out, for the most part. Honestly, I think in the US we'd be perfectly happy if Japan would build a military capable of providing the same capabilities as the US currently provides in the region, it would allow us to save billions per year in military costs, but Japan definitely couldn't afford it, and can't afford to do without it. |
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MarshalBanana
Posts: 5529 |
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Thanks 
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SilverTalon01
Posts: 2420 |
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Not really true. You might think that they can't defend themselves due to their no war clause, but Japan actually is one of the biggest spenders on defense. The US is #1 by a mile, and both Russia and China are spending significantly more. However, the other countries such as the UK which are ahead aren't ahead by much. Japan doesn't have nukes and sure it couldn't stop a full scale invasion by China or Russia, but it isn't like either of those could really just walk all over them before US forces could intervene from another location. Really it is more like the US wants the base there because it is convenient to pursue our own interests in the region which would include protecting Japan but also Taiwan, Korea, to a lesser extent probably Russia, and also things like relief efforts. It is also good for the US in that if we weren't there, Japan would certainly end up increasing the size of and spending on their military which would increase overall tension in the region. |
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Panzer Vor
 Posts: 648 |
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Also, ever since the United States was kicked out of Clark and Subic Bay, bases in Okinawa are the quickest to reach the South China Sea should the situation in the Spratlys somehow go hot. There are good reasons why Vietnam is seeking a stronger relationship with the United States. There are also good reasons why the Philippines is reaching out to both the United States and Japan.
According to the International Institute for Strategic Studies, Japanese military expeditures for 2014 were 7th highest in the entire world, at US$47.7 billion. Keep in mind that this is only 1% of Japan's GDP. If military spending as percentage of GDP goes up even slightly, Japan's total military spending could easily meet or even beat that of nations like France, the United Kingdom, or Russia, depending on how much it goes up; even a tenth of a percent would put them right on par with France, and it just keeps climbing from there. Japan does have the economic capability to support a much larger military than it currently has. Incidentally, the "Maritime Self-Defense Force" is actually the second most powerful navy in East Asia. |
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mgosdin
 Posts: 1302 Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA |
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Welcome to the Square Dance of Death, your partners have been chosen for you. Stay sharp dancers, no one can leave the floor, the band leader has picked up his new golden violin and the sparks are starting to fly...
Mark Gosdin |
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