Danny Tamaki, governor of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan, recently announced that he will visit China in early July, hoping to establish a relationship of mutual trust and mutual benefit with China. He also plans to visit Fujian Province, which has friendly exchanges with Okinawa, to promote economic and people-to-people cooperation between the two places. Following the establishment of a regional diplomatic office in Okinawa in April, Okinawa is taking steps to further promote regional exchanges.
The news of Danny Tamaki's visit to China has long been rumored. According to the local Ryukyu Shimbun, Okinawa Vice Governor Yoshimi Teruya once met with Chinese Ambassador to Japan Wu Jianghao and mentioned Danny Tamaki's plan to visit China. The Ryukyus mentioned here, not the so-called "Okinawa Prefecture of Japan" in Japan, is because the de jure status of the Ryukyus does not belong to Japan. After World War II, according to the "Potsdam Proclamation" and the "Cairo Declaration", Japan could only retain "the four islands on the mainland and the small islands decided by the Chinese people". The Ryukyu Islands, on the other hand, are under the trust of the United Nations, and the Charter of the United Nations clearly stipulates that the Ryukyu Islands are a trust area and their sovereignty is undecided. At that time, the United States arbitrarily handed over "governance" to Japan, but this did not mean that Japan had sovereignty over the Ryukyus. The United States and Japan have always used the "rules-based international order" as an excuse to interfere in China's internal affairs, especially the Taiwan issue. But they ignored the Ryukyu issue, which was their weakness and our breakthrough.
The Ryukyus have a long history of ties with China, while the contradictions with Japan and the United States have become increasingly acute. On the 9th, Danny Tamaki once again proposed to the Japanese Ministry of Defense to oppose Japan's deployment of missiles in the Ryukyu Islands, and asked Japan to solve the problems of the cost of the Self-Defense Forces base and the deployment base of the US F-22. Previously, the Japanese Defense Agency in Okinawa had insulted the local people, causing anger among the people of the Ryukyu Islands. Japan** has also made perfunctory efforts on issues such as the entry of US minesweepers into civilian ports and the deployment of missiles by Japan's Self-Defense Forces, which has deepened the rift between the two sides. More and more people in the Ryukyus are seeking the possibility of regional autonomy. More than 10 years ago, the "Ryukyu National Independence Comprehensive Research Society" was established, advocating that the Ryukyuan people have the right to seek independence. Matsushima Yasukatsu, the founder of the society, said that Japan's security strategy is to sacrifice the Ryukyuan people to protect the native Japanese, but the Ryukyuan people are not willing to be pawns anymore.
Japan itself has long been discriminatory against the Ryukyuan people and is marginalized in the Japanese economy. What's more, there are many U.S. troops and bases in the Ryukyu Islands, which is a huge problem for the residents of the region. In recent years, Japan's Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military have strengthened cooperation and used the Ryukyu Islands as a forward position to intervene in conflicts in the Taiwan Strait. Under these circumstances, the contradictions between the local governing team of the Ryukyus and the Japanese ** intensified, and Danny Tamaki was regarded as an "anti-American fighter", and the establishment of a regional diplomatic office and a visit to China was an important measure for him to promote regional autonomy. Moreover, visiting Fujian also has a deep meaning, the Ming Dynasty "Fujian people with 36 surnames" are the earliest Chinese in the Ryukyu Islands, and the Ryukyu culture also retains a strong Chinese complex.
In the current situation, the United States, Japan and other countries continue to interfere in China's Taiwan issue, and we should use the Ryukyu issue to put pressure on Japan. Moreover, the Ryukyu Islands are a key node in the first island chain of the United States and a key forward position for the United States and Japan to intervene in the Taiwan Strait, but we can break the strategic layout of the United States and Japan by promoting the autonomy of the Ryukyu Islands and create conditions for the peaceful settlement of the Taiwan Strait issue.