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Marine's arrest fuels Japanese fury over US bases
Source: Agencies |
November 19, 2012, Monday
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JAPANESE police arrested a US Marine yesterday on suspicion of trespass on the southern island of Okinawa amid anger over military crimes and demands for stricter regulations for US troops.
The incident, the second after the US military stepped up disciplinary steps last month, triggered harsh reaction from the Okinawa government.
Police said 1st Lieutenant Tomas Chanquet of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma allegedly sneaked into a room through an unlocked door and slept until spotted by a resident who called police.
The arrest was especially inflammatory on Okinawa, where the Emperor Akihito was visiting to attend a fisheries event.
"I'm too shocked to say anything. It's utterly ridiculous and extremely regrettable," Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima told reporters. "I must lodge a strong protest to both the Japanese and US governments. They must do something more significant."
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to raise the issue during talks with President Barack Obama tomorrow on the sidelines of the summit of Southeast Asian countries in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Kyodo News agency reported.
An alleged rape by two Navy sailors last month enraged Okinawans and reignited deep-rooted anti-base sentiment on the island, home to more than half the 52,000 US troops in Japan.
The case led to a curfew on all troops in Japan, but two weeks later a US airman allegedly assaulted a teenager. Yesterday's incident also raises questions over the effectiveness of the curfew and other disciplinary steps.
Japan has lodged a formal protest with the US Embassy and US military over the latest incident and demanded they make sure the curfew is enforced.
Chanquet was apparently drunk when he entered the apartment, Okinawa police official Masahiko Gishi said.
Local opposition to US bases over noise, safety and crime flared into mass protests after the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three American servicemen. The outcry led to an agreement to close the Futenma airfield, but the plan has stalled for more than a decade over the location of a replacement facility.
The incident, the second after the US military stepped up disciplinary steps last month, triggered harsh reaction from the Okinawa government.
Police said 1st Lieutenant Tomas Chanquet of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma allegedly sneaked into a room through an unlocked door and slept until spotted by a resident who called police.
The arrest was especially inflammatory on Okinawa, where the Emperor Akihito was visiting to attend a fisheries event.
"I'm too shocked to say anything. It's utterly ridiculous and extremely regrettable," Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima told reporters. "I must lodge a strong protest to both the Japanese and US governments. They must do something more significant."
Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is expected to raise the issue during talks with President Barack Obama tomorrow on the sidelines of the summit of Southeast Asian countries in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, the Kyodo News agency reported.
An alleged rape by two Navy sailors last month enraged Okinawans and reignited deep-rooted anti-base sentiment on the island, home to more than half the 52,000 US troops in Japan.
The case led to a curfew on all troops in Japan, but two weeks later a US airman allegedly assaulted a teenager. Yesterday's incident also raises questions over the effectiveness of the curfew and other disciplinary steps.
Japan has lodged a formal protest with the US Embassy and US military over the latest incident and demanded they make sure the curfew is enforced.
Chanquet was apparently drunk when he entered the apartment, Okinawa police official Masahiko Gishi said.
Local opposition to US bases over noise, safety and crime flared into mass protests after the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by three American servicemen. The outcry led to an agreement to close the Futenma airfield, but the plan has stalled for more than a decade over the location of a replacement facility.
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