By Gao Qiao
高乔
Recently, the discharge of toxic substance by the US military base stationed in Japan has once again triggered protests from the Japanese people. Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan recently announced that excessive organic fluorides were detected in the wastewater discharged from the US Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan. Mayor Katsuaki Uechi of Yokosuka City lodged strong protests against the US military in this regard. As of now, the US military has not given any reason for this.
近日，驻日美军向海中“排毒”再次引发日本民众抗议。日本神奈川县横须贺市近日宣布，驻日美军横须贺基地向海中排放的废水中，对人体有害的有机氟化物超标，横须贺市市长上地克明向美军提出抗议。目前，美军方面没有对此进行原因说明。
It is not uncommon for the US naval base in Japan to discharge toxins without consulting with the Japanese side nor gaining the consent of the local people settled nearby. In August 2021, the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture in Japan arbitrarily discharged about 64,000 liters of organic fluorine-containing sewage without prior consent from the Japanese side; in January 2016, the Okinawa Prefecture government detected a high concentration of organic fluorides in the water source near the US Kadena Air Base, but the Japanese side had no right to enter the base to investigate, and the US side has refused to publicly admit its responsibility and refused to be investigated...
驻日美军不与日方协商，未征得当地民众同意，在军事基地擅自“排毒”，早已屡见不鲜。2021年8月，驻日美军在没有事先征得日方同意情况下，擅自在冲绳县普天间基地向下水道排放约6.4万升含有机氟化合物污水；2016年1月，日本冲绳县政府在驻日美军嘉手纳基地附近的水源地检测出高浓度的有机氟化物，但日方无权进入基地调查，美方也一直拒绝公开承认对此负有责任并拒绝接受调查……
The US military tends to respond with "no explanation", "no acknowledgment" and "no apology" on the toxin discharge to the Japanese public protests, posing a posture of defiant arrogance. Why do the US troops stationed in Japan dare to discharge toxins frequently? The root cause lies in the privileges enjoyed by the US military stationed in Japan.
美军“排毒”行径引发民众抗议后，总以“不说明”“不承认”“不道歉”的方式应对，尽显傲慢姿态。为什么驻日美军敢频频“排毒”？追根究底，还是美军在日本的特权使然。
In 1952, Japan and the US signed the administrative agreement with the United States, which stipulated that the US military courts have exclusive authority over all crimes committed by the US military and related personnel stationed in Japan. The "extraterritoriality" enjoyed by the US military stationed in Japan, that is, under no legal restriction from the Japanese laws, has remained through several revisions of the agreement later. For decades, the US military stationed in Japan has been notorious for causing various problems such as environmental pollution, committing crimes, and racial discrimination.
1952年，日美两国签订《日美行政协定》，规定“美国军事法庭及当局有对美军及其相关人员在日本国内所犯一切罪行的专属审判权”，此后协定虽几经修改，但驻日美军不受日本法律约束的“治外法权”始终没有改变。数十年来，驻日美军因环境污染、士兵犯罪、种族歧视等各类问题而“臭名昭著”。
According to the statistics by the Okinawa prefectural police, the number of crimes committed by the US military and related personnel stationed in Okinawa reached more than 6,000 from 1972 to 2020, including murder, robbery, arson and rape in nearly 600 cases. During the COVID-19 epidemic, the US military stationed in Japan refused to abide by the restrictions set by Japan's epidemic prevention regulations, which caused the spread of the epidemic around the US base, and sparked public protests many times as a result. For a long time, the US troops stationed in Japan have been under disorganized management and the lack of control and supervision. However, the Japanese people have to pay for it.
据冲绳警方统计，从1972年至2020年，驻冲绳美军及相关人员犯罪案件高达6000余件，其中凶杀、抢劫、纵火和强奸等恶性案件就有近600件。新冠肺炎疫情期间，驻日美军拒不遵守日本防疫政策限制，造成基地周边疫情扩散，多次引发民众抗议。长期以来，驻日美军军纪涣散，对士兵缺乏管束，在美军基地所在地方肆意妄为已成常态，而日本民众却要为此买单。可以说，驻日美军排放的“毒”远不限于环境污染之毒，更有危害社会之毒。
The toxin discharge by the US military stationed in Japan is but an epitome of the US military's overbearing behavior on many overseas military bases. The US military stationed in the ROK once discharged sewage, beat up the local civilians, committed drunk driving and triggered accidents, and ignored epidemic prevention measures, all having sparked public protests; the US military stationed in Italy killed an Italian teenager with drunk driving; American soldiers smuggled drugs into Australia... A review report released by the US Department of Defense in 2022, shows that some US military bases stationed both in the US and abroad have had a higher risk of various misconducts, and these illegal acts have been closely related to the dereliction of the military bases’ leadership.
驻日美军的“排毒”恶行，只是美军在众多海外军事基地霸道行径的一个缩影。驻韩美军在军事基地排放污水、殴打民众、酒驾肇事、无视防疫等行为引发民众抗议；驻意美军醉驾撞死意大利少年；美军士兵向澳大利亚走私毒品……美国防部今年发布的一份审查报告显示，美国境内外一些军事基地发生各类不端行为的风险较高，而这些违法行为的发生与军事基地领导层的不作为密切相关。
An Australian commentator said that the US troops stationed abroad tend to override the laws of the host countries, and never get punished, which has made the US military personnel get accustomed to being superior to others and domineering in action. Some media pointed out that the US military stationed abroad has, in fact, frequently created “security problems”, though claiming to provide a “security guarantee” for its allies.
正如澳大利亚知名时政评论人士顾比所言：驻外美军凌驾于驻在国法律之上，美军士兵成为法外之人，这让美军习惯于高人一等，作风蛮横跋扈。有媒体指出，驻外美军号称是在为盟友提供“安全保障”，实际上却在频频制造“安全问题”。
Editor's note: Originally published on haiwainet.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
