Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki traces historic Chinese links with visit to Beijing cemetery

[beijingwalker]

Okinawa governor Denny Tamaki traces historic Chinese links with visit to Beijing cemetery​

• Tamaki paid his respects at the graves of travellers who came to China hundreds of years ago when Okinawa was part of the Ryukyu Kingdom
• Chinese President Xi Jinping recently sparked concerns that Beijing may seek to raise the Okinawa issue in future when he alluded to these historical ties

Published: 10:11pm, 5 Jul, 2023

Denny Tamaki pays his respects on a visit to the graveyard. Photo: Kyodo

Okinawa’s governor Denny Tamaki visited a cemetery in Beijing on Tuesday to pay his respects to people from the Ryukyu Islands, who were buried there hundreds of years ago.

The cemetery in the city’s Tongzhou district includes several graves of people from the historical Kingdom of Ryukyu, which included Okinawa island.

Tamaki will also visit Fujian, a coastal province with strong historic links to the Ryukyu island chain, during his trip to China.

He is visiting with a delegation from the Japanese Association for the Promotion of International Trade, which is headed by former Japanese foreign minister Yohei Kono.


On Wednesday, the delegation met Chinese Premier Li Qiang, who told the visitors that China looks forward to strengthening economic and cultural exchanges and cooperation with Japan, according to state broadcaster CCTV. He added that the two countries should be partners rather than threatening each other.

In an interview with the Chinese tabloid Global Times before his visit, Tamaki said: “The long-standing history of friendly exchanges between Okinawa and China dates back over 600 years.

“In 1997, the Okinawa prefecture established a friendly relationship with Fujian province, taking friendly relations to a new level.”
Trade and exchanges between Ryukyu and China flourished from the 14th century onwards, and the kingdom became a tributary state to the Ming dynasty.

Ryukyuans, including officials and students, were sent to study in the Chinese capital and the kingdom adopted a similar governmental system.


But Japanese influence grew in subsequent centuries before Ryukyu was annexed by Japan in 1879 and became the Okinawa prefecture.

Last month Chinese President Xi Jinping raised eyebrows by discussing the kingdom’s links to Fujian, where he used to be governor and party chief.

“When I was working in Fuzhou [the capital of Fujian], I was aware of the Ryukyu-kan [diplomats’ house] and the Ryukyu cemetery there, and that Fujian had a deep connection with Ryukyu,” Xi said during a visit to a national history archive in early June.

Although Tamaki welcomed the comments as evidence of Xi’s willingness to develop ties with the Ryukyu Islands, some Japanese media outlets expressed concern, saying it indicated China might play up the Okinawa issue in future.

‘US bases on Okinawa inevitable’: perceptions shift in Japan on American military presence


Some Chinese academics have suggested that China should support autonomy for the islands, or even separatist movements.

Okinawa is just 110km (68 miles) from Taiwan and has a heavy US military presence, which means that it would be a potential battleground in the event of conflict between China and the US.

The Okinawa prefecture also governs the Japanese-controlled Diaoyu Islands – also known as the Senkakus – which are the cause of a long-standing territorial dispute between Beijing and Tokyo.

Tamaki has been a long-standing critic of the US military presence on Okinawa and has pushed for a reduction in troop numbers.

In the Global Times interview, he said the rights of Okinawa’s residents had been violated by a “military-first” approach.

He also alluded to the bloody Second World War battle between US and Japanese troops on Okinawa in which around a quarter of the civilian population died, saying that “all Okinawans have a heartfelt expectation that ‘Okinawa must never again become a battlefield’.”

Tamaki also stressed that a war over Taiwan must be avoided at all costs.

“The governments of Japan and the US should make efforts to ease tensions, establish trust through peaceful diplomacy and dialogue, and take necessary measures to prevent any unforeseen incidents,” he told the newspaper.

“[Tamaki] advocates friendly relations with China and has a strong local Okinawan identity, which is the reason why we pay attention to him,” Lian Degui, a researcher from Shanghai Institute for International Studies, said.

But he said the island’s government was not able to do much about the US military presence.

“Because the US and Japanese governments have obligations under the Security Treaty between the United States and Japan, there is no way [Okinawa] can fundamentally change the fact of US-Japan military cooperation,” he said.

Okinawa governor traces historic Chinese links with cemetery visit

Tamaki paid his respects at the graves of travellers who came to China hundreds of years ago when Okinawa was part of the Ryukyu Kingdom.

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