US Osprey aircraft arrive in Japan amid protests

US Osprey aircraft arrive in Japan amid protests

On July 23 Tokyo time, 12 MV-22 Osprey aircraft arrived at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture on schedule amid protests from more than 2,000 local residents who shouted "Osprey aircraft go back to the United States." The public of Japan were incapable and helpless no matter to the negotiations on stationed U.S. soldiers' raping Japanese girls or the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

"Ospreys" disturbed the Japanese public

The analysts about Japan-U.S. relations said, "It is the strategic focus and must be realized as soon as possible." To the U.S. military troops stationing in Japan, the deployment of "Ospreys" will greatly improve the equipment performance and cover the East and the South China Sea in its Asia-Pacific strategy, which aims at containing China and ensuring the safety of Japan, according to some media analysis.

However, the Japanese society is concerned that the "Ospreys" will threaten the people’s personal safety. The local residents had protested for many times when they learned the news. On July 22, about 1,100 citizens held a protest rally in front of Iwakuni municipal government and had a parade in the city. A meeting of 50,000 local residents is about to be held in Okinawa Prefecture on Aug. 5, jointly protesting for the deployment of "Ospreys" there.

However, the U.S. army still announced concrete maintenance methods to the "Ospreys" on July 24, indicating that the U.S. did not take the strong opposition by Iwakuni and Okinawa Prefecture people seriously.