[asia-apec 811] 2nd invitation to BAYAN-AWC Roundtable Discussion

[ppc]

2nd Announcement and Invitation

BAYAN (New Patriotic Alliance) and the Asia-Wide Campaign (AWC) invite you
to a roundtable discussion on the US-Japan Militarist Agenda in the
Asia-Pacific with the theme: Iron Fists Shield Globalization from Peoples'
Resistance. This forum will be held on the first two days, November 11-12,
of the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly (APPA) being convened parallel to the
APEC Leaders Summit to be held in Kuala Lumpur this November.

Asia-Pacific Peoples' Assembly (APPA)
November 10-15, 1998
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Roundtable Discussion:US-Japan Militarist Agenda in the Asia-Pacific
(Iron Fists Shield Globalization from Peoples' Resistance)
November 11 - 12, 1998

Rationale

Globalization, trumpeted as the inexorable integration of the vastly
disparate economies of the advanced capitalist countries and the backward,
pre-industrial Third World  nations into a single prosperous world economy,
has unraveled and become exposed as a false messiah.  Instead, the policies
of  liberalization, deregulation and privatization are now widely seen as
delivering deathblows to the crisis-ridden economies of underdeveloped
countries and the so-called newly industrializing countries (NICs).  

The results for oppressed peoples in the Third World are now plain to see:
bankruptcies of domestic industries; workers thrown out of their jobs or
forced to accept slave wages; peasants displaced from the land and driven to
penury by so-called development projects and export-driven land conversions;
massive migration of the rural poor to cities only to become jobless slum
dwellers;  the commerce of women and children in sweat shops and in a
burgeoning flesh trade; the exploitation and abuse of migrant labor.

Working people in industrialized countries are not spared as international
capital seeks to invest and set up shop where labor costs are the lowest and
trade unions are non-existent or ineffectual. 

Resurgent mass protests, uprisings and  national liberation struggles are
the peoples’ response to severe economic hardships brought about by the
neoliberal economic policies of globalization. 

In Asia-Pacific, the US and its junior partner Japan, have been most active
in pushing globalization to the desperately poor, underdeveloped countries.
Along with other power centers of monopoly capital, they unite in making the
latter comply with GATT-WTO, IMF-World Bank and APEC  impositions with the
collusion of domestic rulers in every country.   They also vigorously
compete with each other for markets and resources, expanding and
consolidating their strategic spheres of influence.

In a 1995 US Defense Department policy paper  the following assessment was
made:  “The Asia Pacific region is currently the most economically dynamic
region in the world, and on that basis alone, its security would be critical
to America’s future.” 

US trade with Asia grew twice that of trade with Europe accounting for 36%
of total American world trade providing for more than 3 million American
jobs and contributing over $400 billion annually to the US economy.  Seventy
percent of the regional demand for oil is met by  US-owned or controlled
wells in the Persian Gulf with the precious commodity passing through narrow
choke points in Southeast Asia.  Forty percent of global bank reserves are
reported to be under the control of seven East Asian economies. 

Japan has accelerated the relocation of its assembly and sub-assembly type
of manufacturing in East Asia  to establish a regional division of labor
comprising the NICs, China and ASEAN members.  Japanese monopoly capitalists
are taking advantage of the region’s rich natural resource base, huge
market, and cheap labor together with generous government incentives.  It is
not surprising that from 1991-1993, the rate of profit for Japanese firms in
Asia was 2.4%, more than four times that in Japan.  Thus the high economic
stakes of Japanese monopoly capital in the region corresponds to the highest
priority Japan, in alliance with the US, gives to regional security
concerns.     

The current  financial and economic crisis which saw the crash of  East
Asian economies including that of Japan,  the collapse of the Russian
economy, and now threatening the Chinese and Latin American economies, only
underscores the importance for the US and Japan of  securing their immense
interests in the region.  In order to protect these interests and to
suppress peoples' movements challenging them, the US and Japan flex their
military might and intervene covertly and overtly in the internal affairs of
countries in the region.

Despite being the sole superpower in the world today, the US maintains
100,000 forward deployment troops in main military bases and facilities in
Alaska, Hawaii, Japan, Korea, Guam and Saipan, Singapore and Diego Garcia.
Post-world war II military treaties concluded by the US with Japan, South
Korea, the Philippines, Thailand and others are the cornerstone of US
military hegemony in the region.  Other Asian countries without US bases are
covered by  Accessing and Cross Servicing Agreements (ACSA) which provide
unhampered sea/air ports usage and supply arrangements.

Since the US-Japan Security Treaty was signed in 1952, Japan has been
providing logistical and financial support for US troops stationed in the
region.  In exchange, Japanese big business interests are protected under
the US military umbrella.  In reasserting its economic, political and
military hegemony, US imperialism demands more support from Japan.  The
Japanese ruling class assents because of its own militarist agenda aimed at
protecting and expanding its capital overseas in the face of worsening
economic and political crisis in the region.

Thus the US and Japan have strengthened their security alliance and stepped
up their joint military activities.   In April 1996, the two governments
issued the Joint Declaration on Security - Alliance for the 21st Century
which widens the scope of their defense cooperation in regional and even
global military adventures.  US and Japan also concluded an ACSA which
allows Japanese self-defense forces (SDF) to provide greater logistical
support to the US military.  In November the same year,  Japan mobilized 11
warships, 130 aircraft and 10,000 soldiers in a joint military exercise with
the US Seventh Fleet which coincided with US-South Korea war games clearly
directed against North Korea.  

In September 1997,  the two governments revised the 1978 Guideline for
US-Japan Security Cooperation which provides for joint military operations
in wartime.  The new guidelines provide for military cooperation in times of
emergencies in surrounding areas of Japan to include the Korean Peninsula,
the Taiwan Strait and Southeast Asian countries like Indonesia, Malaysia,
the Philippines and Burma.  

It is in this context that the roundtable discussion, “Globalization and the
US-Japan MilitaristAgenda” is being held at the Asia-Pacific Peoples’
Assembly.  The US-Japan militarist alliance continues to be the real source
of destabilization and insecurity in East Asia as well as the rest of the
Asia-Pacific.  These imperialist powers have for a long time used our region
as their battleground, resulting in the loss of countless lives, widespread
destruction of homes and properties, unspeakable suffering and a legacy of
socio-economic ills for generations to come.   

Peace-loving peoples of the Asia-Pacific must oppose the US and Japanese
imperialists’  aggressive militarist and interventionist designs in the region.

Objectives

To deepen our understanding of the US-Japan Security Agreement and its role
in imperialist globalization which has intensified the economic and
political crisis in the Asia-Pacific region;

To learn about the joint security strategy employed by the US and Japan in
realizing their militarist agenda in the Asia Pacific region; 

To share and learn from the people's struggles in the region to counter
covert and overt US and Japanese aggression to protect their economic and
political interests; and

To pinpoint urgent issues related to the US-Japan Security Agreement which
can be the basis for regional peoples' action.    

Revised Programme:


III. Program
 
November 10
Whole Day:        Registration to APPA
Afternoon:        Registration to Roundtable Discussion on Globalization and
the                   US-Japan Militarist Agenda
Early Evening:    APPA Opening Ceremony

November 11
Morning Session
 8:00-  9:00      Additional Registration
 9:00-  9:30      Keynote Speech:  Globalization and the US-Japan Militarist
Agenda 
                  Speaker: Capt. Dan Vizmanos, former President, BAYAN
 9:30-11:00*      Country Sharing on US-Japan Militarist Alliance
		  - United States:  US Security Strategy for Asia in the 21st
Century
                  Speaker:  American Friends Service Committee
		  - Japan:  Its Own Security Agenda for Asia    
                  Speaker: Mr. Saito, AWC Japan
		  - China: Is She a Regional Threat?
		  Proposed Speaker from Labor Rights Association, Taiwan
11:00-11:30       Break
11:30-12:30       - Philippines: Visiting Forces Agreement - the Return of
US                             Military Forces
		  Speaker: Dr. Carol Araullo, Vice-Chairperson, BAYAN
		  - Indonesia:  US-Indonesia Arms Deal
                  Proposed Speaker from the YMB network

12:30- 1:30 	Lunch

Afternoon  and Evening Session
  1:30- 2:30*   - Korea:  A Country Still Divided  by U.S. Military Bases
                Speaker from the National  Council for Independent and
Peaceful                         Reunification of Korea
  2:30- 3:30    Open Forum 
  3:30- 4:30*   Sharing on  Peoples' Struggles Against US-Japan Militarist
Agenda             	
		- Japan
                Mr. Koshiro and Mr. Shiramatsu
		A Broad Coalition Campaign Against U.S. Military Bases in
Okinawa
		Citizens' Campaign Against U.S. Bases and the Deployment of SDFs
Abroad
  4:30- 5:00    Break
  5:00- 7:30	- USA
		- Philippines Junk VFA Movement
                              Ms. Rita Baua, BAYAN	
		- Indonesia : YMB Network
		- Taiwan

 7:30- 8:30            Dinner

November 12
Morning session
 
 9:00- 9:15     Recap
 9:15-10:00     - Korea: Minjung Movement  for Peace and Reunification in Korea
10:00-10:30     Break
10:30-11:30     Asia-wide Campaign

11:30- 1:00     Lunch

 1:00- 2:00     Open Forum
 2:00- 3:00     Resolutions
 3:00- 3:30     Break
 3:30- 4:00     Resolutions
 4:00- 5:00     Planning 
 5:00- 6:00     Closing

* Time alloted for translation