A seminar focusing on peace movement in East Asia against external intervention is held at the Taiwan Normal University in Taipei on September 2, 2023, with activists from Ryukyu and Miyako islands participating and calling for the prevention of the US and Japan from inciting a war in East Asia. Photo: Courtesy of the Labor Party in Taiwan

A seminar focusing on peace movement in East Asia against external intervention was held at the Taiwan Normal University in Taipei on Saturday, with activists from Ryukyu and Miyako islands participating and calling for the prevention of the US and Japan from inciting a war in East Asia. 

At the event co-organized by the Labor Rights Association and the international department of the Labor Party in Taiwan and joined by a dozen political groups, several activists from Ryukyu and Miyako islands talked about the expansion of the military deployment by US military and Japanese Self-Defense Forces in the local areas and the impact and threat to the health of local residents. 

During the event, Hayako Shimizu, leader of an anti-missile base group from Miyako island delivered a speech on rejecting military expansion and promoting peace in East Asia through dialogue. 

According to Shimizu, the intensified military deployment on the southwestern islands of Ryukyu, including Miyako Island, is threatening the safety and health of local residents, and various protests have been carried out since 2015. 

Shimizu stressed that at present, people-to-people exchanges are necessary to build peace in Asia, and she hopes to have in-depth exchanges of views with more friends on Taiwan island. 

Takamatu Gushiken, a special research fellow from Okinawa University who has spent the past 40 years excavating the remains of those who died in the brutal Battle of Okinawa during World War II, delivered a speech titled “the right to live in peace.”

According to Gushiken, casualties during the Battle of Okinawa included not only Japanese and Okinawan people but also people from the Korean Peninsula, Taiwan island, and other countries and regions. Until now, the Japanese government has still concealed information and is unwilling to confirm the identities of these victims, preventing the remains of those who perished in the battle from returning to their families. 

Gushiken stressed that the Japanese government has recently been constantly promoting the notion of a “Taiwan contingency,” which is a lie for the US’ and Japan’s intervention in the peace of East Asia and for launching a war. 

He said that one of the most important messages to convey during this visit to Taiwan is to call on the people of East Asia to unite and reject the imperialistic agenda of the US and Japan to create war once again, and not allow East Asia to become a battlefield again. 

Lin Te-wang, leader of Taiwan People's Communist Party, said during the event that the imperialists from the US and Japan claim to value freedom, democracy, peace and human rights, but in reality, they are the disruptors of peace in East Asia and the ones who bring a threat of war. Lin said that they should demand the withdrawal of US forces from Ryukyu and their exit from Asia through the power of the people. 

Kao An-kuo, a retired general from Taiwan, said he and his parents’ generation have experienced and know the horrors of war. Kao said that Shimizu and Gushiken are the conscience of Ryukyu, who take a stand on behalf of the people and expose the collaboration of Japanese imperialists with the US to fabricate the “China threat theory” to deceive the public. 

Kao called on the people to wake up and advocated the spreading of the anti-war ideology. 

Nearly 150 individuals concerned about the anti-intervention issue participated in this seminar and expressed support for the movement against US military bases in Ryukyu. 

Global Times