"That's the price you pay for our protection." - A high-ranking US official referring to the rape of a 12-year-old Okinawan girl by three American soldiers.
Democratic Party of Japan leader Ichiro Ozawa has drawn fire from some political quarters over his remark suggesting he could assert that the U.S. Navy 7th Fleet would be sufficient when it comes to discussing the necessary scale of the U.S. military presence in the Far East.
The 7th Fleet, based in Yokosuka Naval Base, covers the western Pacific Ocean to the Indian Ocean.
Regarding his remark on the realignment of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, the government and ruling parties have voiced doubt about DPJ's ability to govern.
Some DPJ members also said Ozawa should clarify the purport of his remark.
At party faction general meetings of the Liberal Democratic Party held Thursday, Ozawa's remark attracted criticism.
"What he said was truly ill-thought-out and outrageous. This highlights one of the biggest weak points of the DPJ," former Chief Cabinet Secretary Nobutaka Machimura said at the Machimura faction meeting.
Former LDP Vice President Taku Yamasaki said at the Yamasaki faction meeting, "If a DPJ-led administration comes about, Japan's security will be shaken to its foundations."
Ozawa's remark was made during a question-and-answer session with reporters over a government bid to seek Diet approval for the Japan-U.S. accord on the relocation of U.S. marines in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam on Tuesday.
When questioned by a reporter, Ozawa said, "Concerning the issue of the realignment of U.S. forces, we shouldn't just obediently do as the United States tells us. We should have our own global strategy, and Japan should play its role--at least for issues that are related to Japan."
"In that case, the burden on the United States would be reduced. In this era, it's also meaningless for the United States to send military units to the 'front line,'" he said. "The U.S. Navy's 7th Fleet is enough to secure the U.S. presence in the Far East. As for the rest, Japan can play its role in the Far East."
The United States reacted immediately to Ozawa's remark, which appeared to assert that if Japan builds a defense capability of its own, the only support that the country will need from the United States is that provided by the 7th Fleet.
Kevin Maher, the U.S. consul general in Naha, who is expected to assume the post of director of the U.S. State Department's Office of Japanese Affairs, said during a press conference Wednesday that the security environment in the Far East was challenging.
Ozawa does not understand the strategic need for the U.S. Air Force presence in the Far East as well as the need to maintain the combat readiness of the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army, he said.
A senior Defense Ministry official said there is a limit to what Japan can do to strengthen its military power. "If North Korea launches a missile, we can't prevent the second and following missiles from landing [in Japan] unless U.S. Air Force planes handle the problem," he said.
But some analysts said it was unclear what Ozawa really intended to say.
Since his remark was reported, Ozawa's aides have fielded many questions about what their leader meant, but they have not given any clear answers. There have been mixed reactions to the issue within the DPJ. A conservative DPJ member said Ozawa's comment was perfectly reasonable as he had merely pointed out the strategic capabilities of the 7th Fleet and appealed to the public about the necessity to develop Japan's defense capacity.
But others in the DPJ said Ozawa's remark was off the wall.
A former Social Democratic Party member who is now a DPJ member said he agreed with the view that there are too many U.S. military bases in Japan.
Ozawa's remark resulted in confusion as the DPJ, whose members came from various opposition parties and parliamentary groups such as the LDP and the SDP's predecessors, has avoided discussing security policy issues within the party, fearing doing so would cause schisms.
The DPJ demands that the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement--on which the United States places great importance--be revised, and it plans to oppose the accord on the relocation of U.S. marines in Okinawa Prefecture to Guam.
One DPJ member who is critical of the party's executive said he feared the party's stance on Japan-U.S. relations could put the bilateral relationship at risk if the party takes power. "As long as the DPJ is afraid of intraparty discord and won't even support dispatching the Maritime Self-Defense Force to waters off Somalia [on an antipiracy mission], the party will never gain understanding from the United States."
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