Peace movements world-wide Pacific IT IS NOT widely understood in Europe that US imperialism is deploying Cruise missiles in the Pacific area in the same
The main difference is that the missiles in the Pacific will be sea-launched and not land-based. However US ships and submarines have to call in at harbours and ports throughout the area, making many places very vulnerable
At the same time, US, Soviet and Chinese governments have used the Pacific area for missile testing. The US and Japanese governments also have plans to dump nuclear waste in the
All this has meant that whole groups of islands are still exploited as colonies and denied self-determination, while military dictatorships are propped up by the US presence.
Representatives of peace movements from the Pacific Ocean area urged European activists to see solidarity with national struggles as part of the overall struggle for world peace. A 6-point Appeal was approved by the workshop discussing this issue, as follows: (1) Solidarity with the New Zealand Labour government over its ban on US Japan IN JAPAN there are well-organised peace movements linked to the Japanese political parties - Gensuikyo for the GP and Gensiuikia for the SP. Attempts have been made to unite these two through the mediation of a host of independent grass roots organisations. There is also a strong tradition of academic peace studies in Japan, based clearly on the national experience of the atomic bombings of Horoshima and Nagasaki. The grassroots organisations tend to target specific things to accomplish, and there are many local actions going on in Japan.
Officially the country is a nuclear-free zone. However there is a JapanUSA security treaty allowing US armed forces to build air bases and use Japanese harbours for military and logistical purposes. Does the US
Derik warships and submarines in its ports. (2) Support for independence movements in French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Micronesia and their campaign for a non-nuclear and non-aligned Pacific area. (3) Support for FRETILIN, the East Timor independence movement in its struggle against the Indonesian dictatorship. (4) A campaign against French atomic tests and US, Soviet and Chinese missile testing. (5) Pressure for information on UK nuclear testing in Australia and what happened at Maralinga and Montinella. (6) NO to uranium mining in Australia. respect Japan's nuclear-free status? Few people think it does.
As a result there are a number of peace actions organising boycotts of US warships coming in to harbours. Local councils in the harbour areas are encouraged to declare themselves nuclear-free to highlight the fact that a US presence there would in itself invite a Soviet attack in the event of war.
Current deployment of Tomahawk cruise missiles on US warships and submarines and the Soviet SS20 intermediate and Backfire bombers each amount to more than a simple modernisation" of weapons. They are bound to escalate the arms race and the danger of nuclear war in the Far East. The present right wing government of Yasuhiro Nakasone is of course hand in glove with Ronald Reagan and the US warmongers; the Japanese peace movement faces a stiff fight. Socialist Viewpoint, No. 1, Autumn 1984. Page 17
JUST HERE FOR A CRUISE! Philippines THE TWO main US military bases in the Philippines, Clark Air Base and Subic Naval Base, are probably the largest overseas US facilities in the whole world. They are crucial to the deployment of US forces throughout the Western Pacific and into the Indian Ocean.
Subic is the major naval storage point for tactical nuclear weapons in the Western Pacific. In June 1983, dictator Ferdinand Marcos signed a new agreement with the Reagan administration giving US imperialism "continued unhampered military operations" in the Philippines.
As a reward, Marcos received $900m of economic and military aid over the next five years, an 80% increase over previous levels of assistance.
This has gone some way towards the $4 billion bailout being sought by Marcos from the IMF and other assorted friends to offset the worst economic crisis in the country's history.
Only a few weeks before his assassination a year ago, Senator Benigno Aquino stated: "These US bases not only serve as a magnet for a nuclear attack - they have come to guarantee the repression of the democratic rights of the Filipino people." Contact: Philippines Support Group (affiliation f6), BM Box 758, London WCIN 3XX. Contact: Turkey Solidarity Campaign, BM Box 5965, London WCIN 3XX.