Spotlight: Japan still plans to deploy controversial missile systems amid multiple survey errors, opposition

Source: Xinhua| 2019-12-17 23:04:26|Editor: yan
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TOKYO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Defense Ministry said on Tuesday that a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) training area in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan remains the only suitable site in the region for the deployment of one of two controversial U.S.-made missile systems.

The Defense Ministry said that following a new survey, the Mutsumi training area in Yamaguchi was the "only suitable place among state-owned lands to meet requirements" to host the Aegis Ashore land-based missile system.

The ministry's latest survey follows a previous one which was found to contain numerical errors, adding to a string of mistakes and gaffes related to the ministry's selection of two candidate sites to host the Aegis Ashore missile system, which has raised public concern and opposition.

The other candidate site selected by the ministry had been the GSDF's Araya Training Area in the northern prefecture of Akita.

As for the original survey, however, which initially raised the prospect of the Mutsumi training area in Yamaguchi Prefecture being selected as a candidate site, the elevation of a hill near the site which could affect the system's radar was miscalculated.

The elevation was calculated using Google Earth virtual globe software but the data did not correspond to data that provided by the government's own Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.

After the error was detected, the ministry recalculated the elevation using an airborne laser and subsequently found the maximum angle between the hill and the training site was suitable for the Aegis system to still detect missiles as radio waves emitted by its radar would not be blocked by the hill.

On Tuesday, the latest survey results were reported to Yamaguchi Governor Tsugumasa Muraoka as well as Abu Mayor Norihiko Hanada and Hagi Mayor Kenji Fujimichi by Japan's Senior Vice Defense Minister Tomohiro Yamamoto.

But Hanada maintained his opposition to the controversial plan stating that the training area is "too close to residential areas," adding that the missile system "puts the existence of the town in jeopardy."

"I would like you to abandon the plan to deploy it here," Hanada urged.

Fujimichi also stood staunchly opposed to the missile system's deployment, saying that local people still remained very concerned about the prospect.

"At this point, the fears and concerns of the local residents have not been alleviated," Fujimichi said.

Hanada also said that factoring into his concerns was the government reconsidering the deployment site for a second Aegis system in northern Japan's Akita Prefecture.

The surveys conducted at this site also contained multiple numerical mistakes, again based on flawed data gathered using Google Earth, which sparked concern and condemnation from local officials and the public.

The government has since been researching 19 different locations, reviewing them "from scratch" on their suitability to host the missile system, government sources said.

In June, Japan's Defense Ministry had to apologize for another miscalculation involving the elevation of a mountain at a potential candidate location.

The ministry said at the time the calculation was 3 meters off and described it as a small margin of error.

That miscalculation came on the heels of the ministry having to apologize to Akita Governor Norihisa Satake for the ministry's initial flawed geographical survey that led to the northeastern prefecture being selected as a candidate site for hosting the contentious missile system in the first place.

Defense Ministry officials initially used Google Earth to display cross sections of candidate locations' topography, but failed to calculate distances and altitudes correctly, due to not accounting for the necessary scale reductions.

Officials then reportedly used rulers and protractors to calculate the elevation angle of mountain peaks at nine out of 19 candidate sites in the Tohoku region, leading to some potential deployment locations being erroneously rejected for being too steep and for possibly blocking radar signals.

Satake said that he completely rejected the ministry's explanation for selecting Akita as a candidate site for the controversial missile system.

He also indicated that it was possible that the GSDF's Araya Training Area in the prefecture was selected as a candidate site for the Aegis Ashore system, prior to any geological surveys being carried out by the government.

Concerned residents in Akita have said that there was no way for them to feel safe when the people promising their safety cannot even perform simple calculations.

In addition, the ministry also came under fire for one of its officials falling asleep during a public meeting in Akita City, held specifically to try and gain the understanding of the people in the region about the possible deployment of the missile system and to help allay safety concerns.

The ministry also said that people living in the vicinity of the missile system could fall ill after its deployment, due to electromagnetic waves generated by the systems' radars.

Asked what might happen to a child or a pregnant woman if they spent 10 minutes, 50 meters away from a radar during its maximum operational output, the ministry said their body temperature might rise and they could feel unwell.

Opposition party members have described the ministry's multiple fiascos as "disgusting" and stated they have been "stunned" at its behavior.

Some members have maintained that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to revise Japan's pacifist constitution, in light of the ministry's monumental slip-ups, was now unthinkable owing to such basic mistakes being made and the ministry's behavior.

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