(Via Milinet)
By Linda D. Kozaryn
American Forces Press Service
SYDNEY, Australia, July 17, 2000 -- Defense Secretary
William S. Cohen urged U.S. military personnel in Okinawa,
Japan and South Korea to heed warnings regarding local
anti-American sentiments.
Cohen said tensions are high in Okinawa due to an incident
involving the alleged molestation of a schoolgirl by a U.S.
Marine and the coming G-8 summit."
"I think there are likely to be more rallies and so forth
to try to impress upon the G-8 leaders the concerns of the
Okinawan people," he said. The world's top economic powers,
the Group of Eight meet July 21 in Okinawa. Member nations
are the United States, France, Britain, Japan, Canada,
Germany, Russia and Italy.
Cohen noted that there have been no indications of violence
in connection with the anti-American protests in Okinawa.
But, he said, defense officials are watching the situation
closely.
Anti-Americanism is not a widespread sentiment in Korea,
Cohen said. President Kim Dae-jung has already indicated
U.S. troops will remain indefinitely, even if there is some
kind of a unification or association" between North and
South, he said.
"During these times when there are fundamental changes
under way, there are likely to be political sentiments
expressed, and we just have to be cautious about them,"
Cohen said.
U.S. troops deployed in Okinawa and in South Korea are
fulfilling U.S. national security needs, he stressed. "This
is fundamental to our forward-deployment strategy of
helping to shape events so it's a national security issue
for us."
U.S. troops are also supporting the objectives of the host
nation, he said. "We are there at the invitation and the
will of the sovereign governments of Japan and South Korea
and we intend to remain there."
##END##
NOTE: This is a plain text version of a web page.
If your mail program did not properly format this
information, current News Articles are online at
http://www.defenselink.mil/news/#News Articles
