Whereas, the U.S.-Japan Joint Committee, the operational body for the 1960 U.S. - Japan Status of Forces Agreement, is composed of top U.S. military officials and Japanese foreign and defense bureaucrats; and
Whereas, the Committee has exerted pressure that takes precedence over deliberations in the Japanese Diet, granting extraterritorial privileges to the U.S. military and influencing Japanese domestic politics to align with U.S. strategic interests in East Asia, constituting interference in Japan's internal affairs; and
Whereas, the U.S.-Japan Joint Committee has functioned as an institutional instrument through which U.S. military dominance over Japan and the continued colonial subordination of Okinawa have been maintained; and
Whereas, 70% of U.S. military bases in Japan are concentrated in Okinawa, which comprises only 0.6% of Japan's land area, while joint military exercises continue alongside the construction and expansion of Self-Defense Forces garrisons in the Yaeyama Islands and elsewhere in Japan; and
Whereas, these conditions demonstrate that Japan functions as a U.S. colony and that Okinawa remains a colony of both Japan and the United States;
Therefore, be it resolved, that Veterans For Peace calls for the immediate abolition of the U.S.-Japan Joint Committee; and
Be it further resolved, that Veterans For Peace supports the restoration of democratic accountability, respect for Japanese and Okinawan self-determination, and an end to policies that subordinate them to U.S. military and strategic interests.
Submitted by Rachel Clark, on behalf of VFP Chapter 1004 – Japan.