American soldier in Japan charged with sexually abusing teenage girl on Okinawa

Tokyo — Japan's government is calling for stricter surveillance of U.S. troops stationed in the country after a soldier was charged in the alleged sexual assault of a Japanese teenager in Okinawa. Prosecutors in the southern island region charged the US soldier in March, top government spokesman Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters on Tuesday.

According to local media, the 25-year-old man was charged with sexual assault. He knew the girl was under 16, the minimum age in Japan for sexual acts.

The government expressed “regret” to U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel over the incident and called for stronger oversight of the conduct of military personnel, Hayashi said.

Okinawa covers only 0.6% of Japan's land area, but is home to approximately 70% of all US military bases and facilities in the country.

A litany of grassroots-related disasters have long saddened Okinawans, from pollution to noise pollution helicopter crashes And COVID-19 outbreaksleading to complaints that they are responsible for most of the troop accommodation.

The gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three U.S. soldiers in Okinawa in 1995 led to widespread calls for a revision of the 1960 pact, which established the legal status of U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan.

Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki expressed “strong outrage” over the latest case.

“That something like this happened to a minor not only causes great fear among local residents living side by side with American bases, but also tramples on the dignity of women,” he told reporters. “The excessive burden of hosting military bases is an everyday thing for us and unbearable.”

Anti-base sentiment in Okinawa has been particularly evident over a plan to relocate the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

Although the central government wants to move the base to a less populated part of Okinawa's main island, many locals would prefer it to be moved elsewhere in the country. A 2022 national poll by broadcaster NHK found that 80% of Japanese view the current disproportionate distribution of the U.S. armed forces as “wrong” or “somewhat wrong.”

The latest test point for U.S.-Japan relations comes at a crucial time when concerns are over North Korea with nuclear weaponsThe ongoing weapons testing is increasing tension between Washington and China over Beijing's increasingly assertive stance on Taiwan's status and its territorial disputes with other countries.