The US military base at Okinawa in Japan is proving to be a great threat to the local people of the island. The US Marines have become a security threat to the residents of the region. In a recent incident of misdemeanor, a US Marine Tyrone Hadnott has been accused of raping a 14-year old Japanese girl. This incident has brought back memories of a similar brutal occurrence in Okinawa in 1995. However, the US administration was quick to take action against the guilty and a US envoy expressed regret but the people of Japan are unlikely to forgive the US Marines whose misconducts are continuing unabated. Okinawa had been converted to a US military base following the Japan-US Security Treaty after the end of the Second World War. The US military base had significantly changed the economy of the island whose residents mainly survived on agriculture as their chief mean of livelihood. With construction of bases, the main employment of the island changed to base work. The residents also earn money by leasing their lands to the US soldiers. However, with improvement in livelihood the residents of Okinawa, especially women, faced harrowing incidents of crime perpetrated by the US Marines. In 1996 the then Governor of Okinawa tried to urge the government of Japan to remove the US military base in the region by organizing a referendum. However, despite the threats the people of Okinawa faced from the Marines they were divided on the issue of removal of the US military base from the region for financial reasons. Until and unless the governments of Japan and USA decide on whether they would take stringent measures against the misbehaving US soldiers the problems of the residents of Okinawa will not be resolved. Via: Yahoo
A new incident of rape increases security threat to Okinawa from the US Marines
G8 leaders gorge on rich food as millions starve
The latest G8 Summit at Hokkaido is supposed to address (besides other issues) the problem of global food scarcity. Ban Ki-moon rightly urged the world leaders to be generous and give immediate food assistance to the poorest nations of the world. But the Summit has made a bad start. The rich menu of delicacies which the world leaders will feast upon looks out of place in today’s situation of rising food prices and global hunger. While according to UN estimates, 105 million more people, including 30 million in Africa, could drop below the poverty line because of rising food prices, G8 leaders will bite into caviar, milk fed lamb, sea urchin and tuna, with champagne and wines flown in from Europe and the U.S. The picture of the gastronomic indulgence of leaders of the dominant nations of the world points to the lack of real concern towards the suffering and hunger of millions in the world, especially in Africa. In 2005, at the G8 summit in Gleneagles, Scotland, world leaders had solemnly vowed to give $25 billion in aid by 2010. Till today the rich nations have only given a minuscule 14% of the amount. Amidst this Gordon Brown Gordon Brown urges his countrymen to avoid waste in the kitchen. Bush had made facetious remarks a few months ago about the Chinese and Indians eating more and contributing to rising food prices. But there is good news too. The EU has understood the gravity of the situation and decided to direct towards Africa the amount saved from cuts in farm subsidies. But much more needs to be done. The G8 leaders could have send a strong signal to the world that they are serious and sensitive to the rising hunger in the world by make doing with a simple menu on their dining tables. The rich luxurious menu seems like a cruel joke to the starving millions. Source: TimesOnline, Daily Mail
Will Tibet create new rift in Sino-Japanese relation?
Are Japan and China inching closer to each other to start a new era of political and diplomatic bonhomie? The inhumane Japanese atrocities on the Chinese during the Second World War had embittered the Chinese towards Japan. However, with time being the best healer, both the countries seemed to have buried the past. After a decade, a Chinese President will be visiting Japan. Despite of best efforts by the two countries there are some contentious issues waiting to be resolved. The latest flare-up between the two countries occurred when Japan’s health minister announced on January this year that 10 people in the country had died from food poisoning after eating Chinese-made dumplings. Japanese investigators seized six packets of dumplings and discovered traces of methamidophos, a lethal pesticide that is banned in both Japan and China. However, Chinese investigators failed to detect any trace of the lethal pesticides in the Chinese manufacturing plant in China. With the origin of the contamination remaining a mystery, a new tension has flared up between China and Japan. The visit of the former Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to the Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo, which houses the remains of war criminals, had created fury in China. China on its part had sought to block Japan’s bid for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council. With the current Chinese atrocities in Tibet being fresh in memory, it remains to be seen whether Japan rakes up the Tibet issue with Hu Jintao. Source:Independent Image