Asian, U.S. groups meet in Japan
Plan coordinated actions against war
Special to Workers World
Kyoto, Japan
Representatives of organizations from six Asian countries
and the U.S. have agreed to coordinate activities against the
expanding Pentagon war that began in Afghanistan. The groups
gathered in Kyoto, Japan, on Nov. 23-24 for the ninth assembly
of the Campaign Coordinating Body of the Asia Wide Campaign
Against U.S. and Japanese Aggression and Domination of Asia
(AWC).
Besides the international representatives, many workers,
students and other progressive activists from Japan
participated. For the first time the AWC invited a
representative from the U.S. to attend. Sarah Sloan represented
the New York City-based International Action Center.
The IAC is an anti-war and social justice organization. Last
September, when it became clear that the Bush administration
was preparing a military response to Sept. 11, it helped to
initiate the International Act Now to Stop War & End Racism
(ANSWER) coalition.
Formation of an Asia-wide anti-imperialist front
The Asia Wide Campaign (AWC) was formed in 1992. It includes
BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) of the Philippines, Labor Rights
Association of Taiwan, AWC South Korea Committee, the Korean
Confederation of Trade Unions, Mutual Assistance Fund of
Indonesia, the General Federation of Nepalese Trade Unions and
AWC Japan.
This regional network of anti-imperialist and pro-worker
organizations was formed in response to the increased
militarism of Japanese imperialism. In September 1992, the
Japanese government dispatched its armed forces--known as the
Self Defense Forces (SDFs)--for the first time since World War
II.
Since then, the Campaign Coordinating Body of the AWC has
held annual assemblies in each of its member countries. It has
also helped to mobilize for struggles in the Philippines in
November 1996 and Malaysia in November 1998 against the
imperialist-dominated Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC),
as well as an international joint struggle against the richest
imperialist countries, known as the G8, in Okinawa, Japan, in
July of last year.
This year's assembly included detailed "country reports" on
the economic situation for workers, effects of Sept. 11, and
anti-war movement made by Ho Youngu, the First Vice President
of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions; Wong Lixia, the
advisor of the Labor Rights Association from Taiwan; Teddy
Casiño, the National Secretary General of BAYAN from the
Philippines; Cipto from the Mutual Progress Foundation and
Cultural Activists Network of Indonesia; Keshav Pandey, the
Secretary of the Asian Students Association and a
representative of the All Nepal National Free Students Union;
and Sarah Sloan, the National Youth and Student Coordinator of
the International Action Center and an organizer for
International ANSWER.
Joint Action Program for 2002
Members adopted a "Joint Action Program" for the coming
year. The number one point on the agenda is a campaign to "Stop
the War and Work for Peace." This includes opposition to U.S.
wars of aggression and protest of Japanese imperialism's
participation in them.
Participants adopted the "Asia-Pacific People's Joint
Declaration," which states in part, "We vehemently condemn the
U.S. plot to further expand their war on any other country
[after Afghanistan]. ... In the name of 'fighting terrorism,'
the two countries [U.S. and Britain] are trying to justify
their intention to destroy the Taliban regime by force and
create a puppet regime that meets their interests over the
Middle East and Central Asia. ... We peoples in Asia-Pacific
must unite for global peace and bring together our largest
voices in this declaration."
The declaration also accuses the U.S. and Britain of war
crimes for the many civilians killed in the bombing of
Afghanistan. It notes the aim of "dismantling anti-U.S.
struggles in the region, including the Palestinian popular
uprising," condemns the governments in Asia that have provided
political and logistical support for the war, and demands the
removal of all U.S. bases and military personnel from Asia.
The second point of the joint program calls for
international anti-war united action, specifically for all
member organizations of AWC to join international anti-war
calls made by International ANSWER.
The action program also includes support for workers
opposing neoliberalism; support for the independent and
peaceful reunification of the Korean peninsula, and opposition
to imperialist interference; opposition to U.S. bases in South
Korea, Okinawa and elsewhere; and struggle against
international institutions and conferences such as those of the
World Trade Organization, International Monetary Fund, APEC and
G8.
Dispatch of SDF
Following the conference, the AWC Japan sponsored a national
tour of public forums, rallies and meetings for the
international delegates.
The first, held on Nov. 25, coincided with the dispatch by
the Japanese government of forces for so-called logistical
support for the bombing of Afghanistan. In Fukuoka, the local
AWC chapter held a public forum and then a march through
downtown to the U.S. Consulate.
Following presentations by the international delegates from
the CCB conference, students from Yamaguchi University and
Yamaguchi Prefecture University reported on their anti-war
activities on campus.
Osamu Chimura, Takaaki Abe and Kubota Akie reported that the
overwhelming majority of students on their campus opposed both
the U.S.-led bombing of Afghanistan and the presence of U.S.
military bases in Asia. They have conducted a signature
campaign and a sit-down strike against the war. These students
are members of Anti-Invasion Asian Students Joint Action in
Japan, a member of AWC Japan.
Thihiro Teranaka--a young representative of the 300,000
victims of nuclear weapons living in Japan--reported on her
organization's opposition to war and its assistance to the many
people disabled because they or their parents were victims of
the atomic bombs dropped by the U.S. on Japan in 1945.
Terenaka's parents were in Hiroshima when the bomb was
dropped.
Makoto Motomura, the Fukuoka chairperson of the National
Union of General Workers--also a member organization of AWC
Japan--spoke on the increasing firings and layoffs resulting
from structural adjustment programs and reforms imposed by the
current government of Junichiro Koizumi. Motomura reported that
the situation of unemployment and homelessness is worsening in
Japan.
Following his talk, five fired or laid-off workers gave
reports, including one from an elderly persons' home, a truck
driver, a telephone and an office worker. All are members of
the National Union of General Workers, a radical alternative to
the main pro-government national union.
There was also a talk on the need for solidarity with the
struggle of Korean people living in Japan who face both
institutionalized and social discrimination and racism.
Similar meetings and rallies followed in Shizuoka, Kyoto,
Osaka City, Aichi, Okinawa, Kobe and finally Tokyo.
The Tokyo rally at the Japanese government office and the
U.S. Embassy, followed by a public forum, marked the
culmination of a year-long signature campaign against U.S.
bases in Asia. It was also a protest against the U.S. war in
Afghanistan and the involvement of Japanese imperialism.
Reprinted from the Dec. 20, 2001, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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