China tensions loom as Japan's Okinawa marks 50 years since US handover
CNN
The Japanese island chain of Okinawa marked the 50th anniversary on Sunday of the end of US occupation and its return to Japan with ceremonies and celebrations amid growing worry about its proximity to an increasingly assertive China.
Okinawa, a string of tropical islands off far southwest Japan much closer to Taiwan than Tokyo, suffered massive devastation in World War II. Two months of bloody battles between US and Japanese forces left as many as a third of its people dead. Nearly 30 years of US rule followed.
On May 15, 1972, the islands were finally returned to Japan in what was seen as a hopeful step forward from the war's painful legacy. But today they still host the majority of US military bases in Japan, a devil's bargain that has provided jobs but also fed worries about crime and military accidents.
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