Strategic Islands

[Bill Moore]

http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/...9?ocid=UE07DHP

A number of islands are of strategic value to the major powers competing for influence in Asia, and Okinawa is one of those islands. The locals have understandably never been fond of the U.S. military presence there, and use every crime committed by a service member (tragically in this case a murder by a former service member who remained in Okinawa after he left the service) as another factor to generate momentum to oust the Americans.

Okinawa Murder Case Heightens Outcry Over U.S. Military’s Presence

“We’ve heard apologies and promises of prevention hundreds of times, for decades, but it hasn’t had any effect,” Okinawa’s governor, Takeshi Onaga, said in an interview. Okinawans still bitterly remember a 1995 rape of a 12-year-old girl involving two Marines and a Navy sailor, which led to protests, as well as more recent episodes.

The bases never made Okinawans rich: The prefecture has the lowest per-capita income in Japan, one-third below the national average. Now, dependence on them is in decline, Mr. Meguro said, and with it Okinawans’ tolerance for the problems they bring.

Some in Okinawa would like to follow the example of the Philippines, which pushed out the American military in the early 1990s and redeveloped a major Navy base, at Subic Bay, into a lucrative resort destination.

“When it comes to the economy and tourism, it’s ‘Welcome, China,’” Mr. Meguro said. “Of course, it glosses over the fact that the Philippines has started to invite American forces back because it’s being menaced by China.”

[davidbfpo]

A reminder via Strife blog (Kings War Studies) that "location, location" is not always a factor and yes the island is Perim in the Gulf of Aden (Yemeni territory):

Despite lying in the middle of one of the world’s most critical choke points, the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait between Djibouti and Yemen, the island of Perim is a remote and often forgotten outpost. Perim is located in the midst of the waterway which separates the Red Sea from the Gulf of Aden....

Link:https://strifeblog.org/2016/06/29/pe...hat-never-was/

I have wondered why the far larger, but further away from land, Socotra has not had a strategic role. IIRC again a lack of a water supply in such a climate features.

[davidbfpo]

Once again the UK courts have rejected the claim by former residents of the Chagos Islands to return home; Diego Garcia is one of the islands:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-36659976

[davidbfpo]

Thanks to a footnote in the latest Sentinel I found this report and the expansion of the UAE's role, if not de facto occupation of Socotra.
Link:https://www.alaraby.co.uk/english/in...sland-paradise

[davidbfpo]

Not heard of this island nor it new owner and id'd via a broader regional article. See:https://www.criticalthreats.org/anal...ble-for-africa

The latest tension was sparked after Sudan signed an agreement to temporarily hand over the Red Sea island of Suakin to Turkey. Ankara and Khartoum said Turkey would rebuild the ruined, sparsely populated Ottoman island to increase tourism and create a transit point for pilgrims crossing the Red Sea to Islam's holiest city of Mecca. Turkey is also set to build a naval dock on the island.
Egyptian media criticised the agreement and alleged Turkey would build a military base on the island.

Link:https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/...053325960.html

The island is within the large creek that adjoins Suakin city, once a key port, but replaced by Port Sudan. Some history and a photo via:https://www.dailysabah.com/feature/2...-two-centuries

[davidbfpo]

Ho hum:

The UK has been ordered to hand back the Chagos Islands (Added: which includes Diego Garcia) to Mauritius “as rapidly as possible” after the United Nations’ highest court ruled that continued British occupation of the remote Indian Ocean archipelago is illegal.

Link:https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/feb/25/un-court-rejects-uk-claim-to-sovereignty-over-chagos-islands?

An AP report bizarrely refers to:

The Pentagon’s heavily fortified air base on Diego Garcia..

Link:https://www.theglobeandmail.com/worl...an-colony-the/

As I recall there is a very small RN detachment, with some launches and I doubt anything is fortified.

[davidbfpo]

An update on the competition on Socotra between Yemeni factions: those who support the Hadi government and the UAE-funded & trained Security Belt Forces.

Note a likely fact 60,000 residents and

The UAE first deployed fighters to Socotra last April. Until then, the island had been free of the fighting that raged on mainland Yemen.

Link:https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/a...yemens-socotra