Politics is a dirty business. One should not expect politicians to be unblemished. Over the course of their careers, some will change party, even sell out their constituents for own selfish gains. Self preservation is usually the culprit. There are very few politicians who are altruistic. We see politicians changing party all the time in the US, from Democratic to Republican and vice versa. Sometimes to become independent, or form another party which is quite rare.
So given the nature of reality in the political world, one should not be surprised at the flip flop position of Governor Nakaima. His job is supposed to be to look out for the Okinawa Prefecture. Somehow under intense arm twisting by Tokyo and Washington, he caved in, perhaps he think he can sell a bigger budget from Tokyo sweetener in exchange for sacrificing Henoko.
This very same Governor Nakaima can also be twisted back to go against Tokyo if enough pressure is put on him!
First of all, we all have to remember that Governor Nakaima was elected to serve Okinawa Prefecture. Somewhere along the way, he was pressured to serve his LDP party first which is for Henoko base relocation of Futenma, at the expense of his initial priority to serve Okinawans first.
What happened is history. Governor Nakaima got the extra budget promise of $3 billion plus per year for Okinawa in exchange for Henoko relocation. He might be finessing his strategy to allow the land reclaimation to start and hope the local mayor Inaime do the dirty work for him to stop the relocation. He is condemned by many Okinawans and is considered a spent political force there.
However what if Governor Nakaima can be used by Okinawan independence activists to gather more support for independence? What if he throw his weight to the independence movement and get his fellow LDP members in Okinawan Assembly to pass the Independence Bill? He will of course make Tokyo very angry, perhaps US too. However it does not matter to him anymore. He have to preserve his legacy among the Okinawan people whom he owes First Allegiance. I am sure in his heart he is a pure Okinawan and want to look out for Okinawans. However he was in a very difficult situation and perhaps he have miscalculated by allowing Henoko land reclaimation. Or perhaps he was subtly forced into doing it. We never know how dirty Tokyo politics work. He was in Tokyo supposedly for medical trip when he make the decision. Was there coercion? We never know.
Anyway, I am pretty sure, Gov Nakaima want to find a way to redeem himself and the opportunity to redeem himself will only happen if Okinawans welcome his support for Okinawa Independence. As I said, politics is dirty, people change sides. It is important not to take it personally and have a visionary discussion with Governor Nakaima to try to influence him to support Okinawa Independence. His legacy is at stake and I believe he will welcome his participation in Okinawa Independence if only someone ask him nicely!
Once he decide to publicly announce his support for independence, I am pretty sure the current kindling of independence movement will become a flame that will gather international attention. Headline News: Governor Nakaima, the guy who approve Henoko support Okinawa Independence! One publicity leads to another, changing this small flame into a bigger fire. With more visibility, more Okinawans will see HOPE that independence is a Real Possibility! This is also the Golden Time to solicit Funding to help Okinawans campaign for their independence. It cost money, lots of money to help make this a successful movement. I am very optimistic there are plenty of people within Japan and overseas in US, China, HK, Taiwan, Europe, anywhere, once they understand the aspirations of the Okinawan People and my own Global Peace initiative, they will see this as a very worthy cause to support.
So Gov Nakaima is still useful. He is not to be discarded. He can also persuade other LDP members in Okinawa to become independent members and forget about dependency on Tokyo. This will especially be so when they see massive amount of money flowing into Okinawa Independence funds to help take care of their basic needs of own self survival with no need to depend on Tokyo. Seriously as I said, politics is dirty, so I suspect many LDP members in Okinawa are LDP not because they think it is good for Okinawa, but because they think by being LDP members, they have a safer way to take care of their own personal needs. Simply put, these may not be honest politicians, they only look out for themselves but they can become useful for Okinawa Independence, just like Gov Nakaima.
Independence piggyback activists: Much to my dismay, I notice some Okinawan independence activists being used by outside forces who have their own independence agenda separate from Okinawans. I will not name names here, but what this do by having outside parties show up in Okinawan independence rally is it damage the movement. Remember funding is a necessary part of independence movement and whatever small gains these Okinawans activists have from the outside supporters perhaps they make a small donation to help them, they cause far more harm than good.
Okinawan independence movement must be done in a pristine environment, no outsider activists representing other organizations should ever be allowed to taint the Okinawan effort. Just one photo of outside forces mixed in among the Okinawans can affect greatly the perception of potential donors.
I urge Okinawans to try to sway Governor Nakaima and use his clout to increase the Okinawa Independence Head Count. Being very visible to Okinawans, his action will suddenly increase the amount of Okinawans showing up in support for independence. Being practical is more important than idealistic pursuit. Independence activists are probably mostly not into politics and may not have pragmatic viewpoints. In my various posts, I urge pragmatism, especially relating to China so everybody wins except bad bad Tokyo!
