On the Non-Defense of Japan: The Japan-US Treaty of Mutual Deception, Ignorance and Insecurity

By D. H. Garrett

“The war with Japan had been enacted in the game rooms at the War College by so many people and in so many different ways that nothing that happened during the war was a surprise absolutely nothing except the kamikaze tactics toward the end of the war. We had not visualized these.”

-Chester W. Nimitz-

Students protesting against the Ampo treaty and then-PM Kishi

The “Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan” is known in shortened form in Japanese as the “Ampo Joyaku.”  It could more accurately be known as the “Ampo Noyaku” (農薬) one possible very rough translation of which would be the “U.S.-Japan Bulls**t” treaty.  It is a BS treaty not because it took the release of Class A War Criminals and massive amounts of CIA money over the years to get the U.S. the sufficiently anti-communist government it needed to allow U.S. bases willy-nilly wherever they wanted to plunk them down on Japanese soil (especially Okinawa)1); it is a BS treaty not because it was only passed by the Japanese Diet by tricking the opposition into taking everyone’s usual lunch-break and then having only the LDP members sneak back in to vote 2); it is a BS treaty not because Japan faces no threats of sufficient “threateningness” to warrant it: Russia (and the Soviet Union before it) although it does have some amphibious landing capability has rarely in its long military history utilized it, and China has all of one purchased, slightly-used formerly Ukrainian aircraft carrier; it is not a BS treaty because Article 1 of the treaty which states, “The Parties undertake, as set forth in the Charter of the United Nations, to settle any international disputes in which they may be involved by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security and justice are not endangered and to refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state,” is ritually ignored by the United States. No, it is a BS treaty because it doesn’t have the sense that god gave a goose to focus on the real existential threat that Japan is facing: climate change.

Prior to the Battle of Okinawa and the firebombing of Tokyo and the atomic butcherings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan did -it is true- have a history of being attacked.  That was though all the way back in 1274 and 1281 when Mongol fleets attempted to land invading hordes. These were famously eventually beaten back to the mainland by what came be known as the “Kamikaze” divine winds.  Now, as 2015 heads to the record books as the hottest year ever recorded, there is another invading force bearing down on Japan. Think of this enemy as a Super Kamikaze on steroids in reverse.3)4) In reverse, because this kamikaze is not here to protect Japan from outsiders.  It is here to destroy Japan as we know it.  This Super Kamikaze is climate change, and its multiple manifestations, all of which are appearing fast, and furiously, and all of which are building in momentum, even as the imagination needed to visualize and deal with them as a security threat, remains almost totally lacking, with a few exceptions.4)5) Anyway, the professional –have the ear of our fearless leaders- security establishment’s imagination is easily distracted by the pinpricks of asymmetrical lashing out (terrorism), and pop-culturesque boogey-men (North Korea).  As an exercise in readjusting the hallucinations of the U.S.-Japan military-industrial-political complex to reality as it really is, just imagine if the damage done by Typhoon Etau (100,000 ordered evacuated) had been done by one their favorite bogeymen, North Korea or China?  These sorts of events are only going to ramp up in frequency and severity.  Oh, and need I mention that Tokyo, Nagoya, and Osaka face a good probability they will need to be relocated to higher ground, either that or trillions of dollars in defensive infrastructure will need to be built.5)6)

So here is some of what needs to be kept in mind, if the Ampo Joyaku is to move out of the field of fertilizer and into the realms of something truly useful, and even life-saving7)8):

1.  Japan Needs to Ally Itself With the Best, Not an Ally That Excels at Destruction and Loses to Minor Insurgencies (After Creating Them)

First of all, the U.S. is its own worst enemy and so by Japan being allied with the U.S. it is also allied with its own worse enemy.  This is true of the extremely minor threat of terrorism, almost entirely brought into being as manifestations of blowback to various forms of U.S. violence and injustice, and more importantly in terms of the blowback of climate change, almost entirely brought into being by a Western economic model predicated on enriching the few by dangling illusions of happiness to the many all at the expense of the earth's life support systems.  One would have thought Japan learned in WWII that allying itself with a country that was, shall we say, morally problematic, was not a good idea.  The majority of Japanese want to ally themselves with forces trying to bring into being a more just, more sustainable earth.  That its leadership has been seized by nationalistic paranoids only serves to remind one of a similar phenomena that happened in the U.S.

2. When “Growth” Kills It is Suicide/Murder

The current dominant economic system is delusional in the extreme.  When real costs are factored in (negative externalities including but not limited to climate change impacts, direct and indirect subsidies, and human and social costs) none of the world’s leading corporations are really profitable.9) Given that we are destroying our life support systems in favor of the illusion of abundance, we must radically correct our economic evaluations of “profit” to incorporate natural system sustainability and repair, and human happiness as opposed to human greed.  Japan’s natural cultural inclinations are to lead exactly in this direction.  One might think of this, in terms of sustainability, as a push toward a global “Edo Period.”

3. Seizure and Internationalization of the Assets of Oil and Gas Companies That Committed Criminal Acts of Deception

Although it can be expected that U.S. courts will eventual find the major oil and gas companies culpable of practicing criminal deceit10) resulting in massive loss of life and property, given that the preponderance of damage is in the global south it would be preferable for these trials to be handled by an international tribunal so that assets are better assured of reaching the majority of the victims.  With it’s strong support for the resolution of issues through the use of international law (the exception between it’s disputed island territory issues) Japan would be a natural leader to support the set up of this type of international environmental tribunal

4. Emergency Build-up of Food Emergency Infrastructure

With Japan importing more seafood than any other country in the world (80% of the world’s fish stocks fully exploited, overexploited, or recovering and the oceans acidifying quickly), and importing roughly 60% of its food, one needs to keep in mind that food security is one of the earliest victims of climate change. Local regional and global food supply networks can be expected to quickly shatter in a non-linear fashion after one or two significant climate events.11)  As such a global focus on new climate change-resistant food security infrastructure is of the essence, and Japan, given its great vulnerability should be in the forefront.  Vertical farming at every scale from the mega-scale ringing mega-cities, to the quickly installable “food security life raft” version for small remote communities must be put in place if societal break-down is to be avoided.

5. Rational Staged Withdrawal from the Coasts

Although there may be some high value coastal cities where a cost-benefit analysis suggest that expensive coastal defenses may be a viable alternative (and certainly there may be creative ways to save some of Japan’s coastal plains where 96% of its population dwells) it is probably a better defense to put in place plans now to begin shifting 10’s of millions of people inland to avoid inundation.  Models that incorporate real-world fast and slow feedbacks predict multi-meter seal level rise by the end of the century, and perhaps even earlier, and moreover, paleo-climactic data from eras that had our current level of CO2 in the atmosphere reveal we have a 200-300 feet deficit between where sea levels are now and where we can expect them to reach.7)

6. Degrowth and “Other-growth” in the so-called developed world.  Green growth still allowable in the developing world.

We can all live simpler, and by living simpler, actually be happier.  There are few countries with an innate economic-ecological-philosophy that are so naturally akin to this idea, as Japan.  Go forth Japan and lead the world towards happy Zen-garden sustainable sobriety!

7. A Massive “New Hydrology” Effort to Protect, and Expand the Carbon Sequestration Ability of Terrestrial Land Masses

There is a set of super-high tech, deus ex machina technologies capable of sucking CO2 from the atmosphere and directly transforming it into a useful form.  They are called TREES.  Japan, do everything you can, for your own protection, to lead the world in a massive effort not just to protect existing forests, but to radically expand efforts at global reforestation.

8. An agreement on shifting to a complete, global, climate change war footing including rationing, until such time as the crisis is past.

Once upon a time, Japan imagined itself, unhappily for its neighbors, at the center of an Asian Co-Prosperity sphere.  There are no centers any more. But the sphere, the global and local sphere of the commons is with us now.  Japan could be a radiant green beacon of loveliness and livability and that vision, would do more for its standing in the world then scrapping the peace constitution, and going to bed with a country that ignores, -when it so choses- international law, ever will.

Inashu wa

jisei o homete

tatarekeri

(The doctors

praise his death poem

and depart.)

References:

1. “Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA,“ Time Weiner, Anchor, May 2008
2. Ibid
3. “Why Tropical Storm Vongfong May Just Be The Beginning For Japan” Jeff Spross, Climate Progress, Oct 12, 2014 (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/10/12/3579143/vongfong-japan-storm-losses/
4. “Catalogue of abrupt shifts in Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change climate models” Sybren Drijfhout, et al, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) Oct. 12, 2015
5. DOD 2014 Climate Change Adaptation Roadmap, http://www.acq.osd.mil/ie/download/CCARprint_wForeword_c.pdf
6. Could a US-Japan “Green Alliance” Transform the Climate-Energy Equation? Andrew DeWitt, Japan Focus, May 2014 http://japanfocus.org/-Andrew-DeWit/4111
7. “Sea-level rise due to polar ice-sheet mass loss during past warm periods” A. Dutton, A. E. Carlson, A. J. Long, G. A. Milne4, P. U. Clark, R. DeConto5, B. P. Horton, S. Rahmstorf, M. E. Raymo; Science 10 July 2015: Vol. 349 no. 6244
8. “Ice melt, sea level rise and superstorms: evidence from paleoclimate data, climate modeling, and modern observations that 2OC global warming is highly dangerous” Hansen, et al, Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics Discussion, 15, 20059–20179, 2015
9. “The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity, Ecological and Economic Foundation” TEEB http://www.teebweb.org/our-publications/teeb-study-reports/ecological-and-economic-foundations/
10. “The Climate Deception Dossiers” Union of Concerned Scientists Report http://www.ucsusa.org/global-warming/fight-misinformation/climate-deception-dossiers-fossil-fuel-industry-memos#.VapofIvR-ug July 2015
11. "Trade-Off: Financial System Supply-Chain Cross-Contagion: a study in global systemic collapse" David Korowicz, Metis Risk Consulting & Feasta, June 30, 2012

Author's Note: D. H. Garrett is a Senior Associate at the Asia Institute and a former U.S. Department of State Foreign Service Officer.

DISCLAIMER:  The views expressed herein are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of the U.S. Department of State or the U.S. Government.

ケネディ駐日米大使 会見 2015.12.17--Ambassador Kennedy: Iintentional slip?

From  Ten Thousandthings

In a Dec. 17 press conference, Ambassador Kennedy first briefly mentions Okinawa at the 10m40s mark. She then talks about Okinawa again at the 23m45s mark. Around the 23m40s mark she talks about the next few years being critical and how moving Futenma is the "best plan" and "the plan we should implement as fast as possible." At 23m48s she says, "...once we are able to move MCAS Futenma out of Naha..." 

Analysts have differing perspectives on Ms. Kennedy's referencing Futenma training base in Naha, instead of Ginowan City, its actual location. Some wonder if she intentionally made the error to go off script & undermine the credibility of her statement endorsing the US-Jp govt. plan to landfill Henoko's dugong and coral reef ecosystem & build a concrete-block offshore V-22 Osprey training airstrip. 

Others speculate that she has no knowledge of Okinawan issues and is simply acquiescing to being used as a "Kennedy" mouthpiece for the US & Jp govt landfill plan. She does not speak Japanese, has not visited Henoko, despite public invitations & appeals, notably by Henoko children and American marine biologist Katherine Musik.

Ms. Kennedy's father, President John F. Kennedy, appeared to have a change-of-heart regarding US militarism and interference in democratic process in foreign countries, especially in the months before he was killed in 1963. He called for an end to the Cold War, invoked visionary, pro-peace, anti-militarist, and anti-imperialist language. Okinawan & Japanese citizens hoped that Ms. Kennedy would follow her father's legacy, but her tenure has proved disappointing to those who hope she would fulfill the Kennedy legacy. 

Many also feel similar disappointment that Ms. Kennedy is not following the legacy of her mother, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was renowned for being a voice for cultural heritage preservation. Supporters of Okinawa hoped Ms. Kennedy would advocate for the protection of the Okinawa dugong, a natural cultural monument, one of the few examples of Okinawan cultural heritage not destroyed by the US-Japan war and US seizures & destruction of entire villages to build bases in Okinawa from 1945 to 1972. 

Still, many Americans, who are inspired by President Kennedy's turnaround in the last year of his life, haven't given up hope that his daughter will similarly speak and act for human rights, democracy, and peace for Okinawa & Japan.

Ms. Kennedy has had numerous opportunities to distance herself from the US-Jp govt landfill plan, which is opposed by the Okinawan prefectural government & people, but she has yet to exercise her diplomatic skills to attempt to work out a mutually agreeable solution that would preserve Okinawa's most important cultural heritage site. Preserving Henoko is the only way to salvage what is left of the tattered US-Okinawan-Jp relationship. 

Still, many who are inspired by President Kennedy's turnaround in the last years of his life, haven't given up hope that his daughter will similarly speak and act for human rights, democracy, peace, & cultural heritage preservation.

preservation.

ケネディ駐日米大使 会見 2015.12.17

Caroline Kennedy, U.S. Ambassador to Japan アメリカのケネディ大使が会見し、記者の質問に答えた。 司会 西村陽一 日本記者クラブ企画委員長（朝日新聞） 通訳 宮崎有美子、森万純（米国大使館） http://www.jnpc.or.jp/activities/news/re...

Opinions expressed here are those of the author and not necessarily TokyoProgressive

How the News Media Sees Okinawa

Originally published in the FCCJ #1, Nov 2015

 

Islands in the streaming news
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga meets the press.

As the face-off between the prefectural and central 

governments continues, the good news 

is that press interest has increased 

and coverage has improved.

by Michael Penn

The confrontation between the leaders of the U.S.-Japan alliance and the prefectural government of Okinawa over the relocation of the U.S. Marine airbase at Futenma and the plan to construct a new airbase at Henoko has many dimensions – political, military, legal, historical, ethnic and economic. These have affected the way that it is covered by the local and global news media.

Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga is clearly aware of the importance of reaching out to the foreign media – as demonstrated by his late-May visit to Washington DC, his September speech at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and, indeed, by his two press conferences this year at the FCCJ. Onaga understands that shaming the Japanese government before the eyes of the international community is one of the key weapons at his disposal.

But keen awareness of the potential power of the media is also to be found on the other side of the political spectrum as well. Novelist and former NHK board member Naoki Hyakuta declared to admiring conservative lawmakers at a ruling party study meeting in June that the two major newspapers of Okinawa should be “crushed” in response to their support for the anti-base political views. In central Naha even now one can find a handful of activists outside these newspapers’ headquarters making similar calls.

Onaga understands that shaming the 

Japanese government before the eyes of 

the international community is one of the 

key weapons at his disposal.

Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Times dominate the newspaper landscape in Okinawa. With two major newspapers grappling with one another within a relatively isolated prefecture, it might be expected that one of them would naturally trend more to the liberal side and one represent more conservative voices. In fact, however, both papers are deeply committed to their anti-base movement. While there is indeed some portion of the Okinawan population that is pro-base, or at least not very concerned about the U.S. military presence, it would appear that this constituency is not large enough to support a major newspaper.

It should also come as no surprise that among print newspapers in any language, it is only the Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Times that treat Henoko base construction as an issue of deep concern and seriousness. Without a doubt they offer the most regular and detailed accounts of the confrontation, and they are an essential source for anyone closely following developments on the ground.

For every other print media outlet in whatever language, the Futenma relocation drama is a peripheral matter, usually updated only when a major political figure makes a key statement or when an event of special significance takes place.

CONSERVATIVE NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS LIKE the Yomiuri Shimbun and the Sankei Shimbun have never wavered in their commitment to seeing the U.S. Marine airbase be built. For them it is a simple issue of national security and a commitment made to the U.S. allies. In the case of the Yomiuri, one editorial could stand in for a hundred others, as the message is always that base construction is necessary and anyone opposing it is both irresponsible and obstructionist. As they put it on Oct. 14: “The relocation to the Henoko district is the sole, realistic option chosen following many years of discussions among the Japanese and U.S. governments and local governments of Okinawa. Onaga continues taking his noncompliant stance, providing no alternative plans whatsoever.”

The more liberal national dailies 

like the Asahi Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun, 

however, could probably be best 

defined by their wavering. 

For the far-right Japanese media, the answers are also very simple. They insist that the anti-base movement does not represent the views of the majority of the Okinawan people, but rather are led by a handful of mostly Communist political activists from the main islands. They also believe that hidden Chinese agents and their collaborators are secretly guiding the anti-base movement.

The more liberal national dailies like the Asahi Shimbun and the Mainichi Shimbun, however, could probably be best defined by their wavering. They are certainly willing to give some space to anti-base views in their pages, especially in recent months, but they tend to be much more lukewarm than the local Okinawa papers. For example, these national newspapers appear to take more seriously the view that U.S. military bases are needed in the southwestern prefecture as an element of deterrence policy vis-a-vis China.

In contrast, the dominant view within Okinawa itself seems to be that China should be seen more as a trading partner than as an inevitable military threat. Governor Onaga himself made this point at his most recent press conference at the FCCJ – and it is often forgotten that Onaga hails from the more conservative political camp within his prefecture and was formerly a leader of the local chapter of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party.

THE INTERNATIONAL NEWS MEDIA on the whole tends to show a reasonable degree of sympathy toward the Okinawans in their struggle to prevent the construction of the airbase at Henoko, though until recently there has also been a notable lack of interest in truly grasping the details of the situation.

Much of the international coverage of the Okinawa issue seems to be driven not by the unique history of the Ryukyu Islands (which is clearly central to Governor Onaga’s view), but rather to each specific media outlet’s general attitude towards the global military posture of the United States. Those international media that are most alienated from U.S. military actions in Iraq or Syria or Yemen, for example, also tend to paint the most negative pictures of the current situation in Okinawa.

An example of this latter approach can be found at RT, the English-language global news service of Russia. In an early-June report on the Okinawa issue, all of the analysis and commentary came from perspectives strongly critical of the United States. The quotation from Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine described the U.S. approach as “typical of colonial policies.” The one international expert introduced in the piece, the New Zealand-based Tim Beal, stated that U.S. bases in Okinawa really have little or nothing to do with any concern in Washington about the defense of Japan.

There are also those . . . whose views are 

nearly identical to what is expressed 

in the Yomiuri Shimbun, or occasionally 

even further to the political right.

Since the Henoko base issue has been in the headlines off and on for some years now, the quality of the international reporting has clearly been improving. An increasing number of foreign journalists are actually visiting the sites of the confrontation and listening directly to the voices of the Okinawans. Interviews with Okinawa-based officials and analysts are now common in news features, and understanding of the local perspective has deepened considerably compared to five or ten years ago.

Direct experience in Okinawa, however, does not always lead in the direction of increased sympathy for the protesters. There are also those – usually associated with U.S. government policymaking circles or the military – whose views are nearly identical to what is expressed in the Yomiuri Shimbun, or occasionally even further to the political right.

One of the more active media commentators of this kind is Robert D. Eldridge, an author of several books related to Okinawa and for some years an official spokesman for the U.S. Marines.

When Governor Onaga made his visit to Washington DC in late May, Eldridge wrote a piece in the Washington Times to introduce him to American policymakers. Eldridge explained that Onaga had been elected “on an anti-base platform dominated by the organizational might of the Communist Party” and that the Okinawa governor “has been groomed for a long time by Chinese leaders” – echoing the claims of the Japanese far right.

Eldridge is also an outspoken critic of the Ryukyu Shimpo and Okinawa Times, describing them as “biased” in their coverage of the U.S. military and accusing them of consistently “focusing on the negative and sensational.”

Eldridge extends his critique to “the national and international media stationed in Tokyo.” Commenting on Naoki Hyakuta’s declaration that the Okinawan newspapers should be “crushed,” Eldridge observed:

“What was most surprising, however, about the ‘Hyakuta Incident’ was not his comments. Nor was it the strongly negative reaction of the two Okinawan newspapers – issuing a protest statement, partnering with their business allies such as the Asahi Shimbun to condemn Hyakuta in their editorials, and speaking before gatherings of their recent allies in the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. Rather, it was the slowness of people to realize that the media itself was crudely violating a private citizen’s freedom of speech, all in the name of protecting free speech and a free press.”

LIKE EVERY OTHER CONFLICT in the world, control of the narrative is a crucial element of the struggle for all interested parties.

The Okinawan opponents of the construction of an airbase at Henoko want to tell the story of their people’s unique history: their non-Japanese past, their horrific sacrifice in the Pacific War, their decades spent as a military colony of the United States, and the disproportionate burden of hosting U.S. forces that they carry even today. They insist that their experience teaches them the value of peace, and they don’t believe that the Chinese government has any intention to invade.

Mainstream conservatives sometimes acknowledge 

that Okinawa is disproportionately burdened, 

but for them these grievances must take 

a back seat to the larger alliance priorities.

For mainstream conservatives on both sides of the Pacific, the salient narrative is about the U.S.-Japan alliance – how it protects Japan’s national security, deters potential aggressors, and serves as a necessary hedge against the growing power and aggressiveness of China. Mainstream conservatives sometimes acknowledge that Okinawa is disproportionately burdened, but for them these grievances must take a back seat to the larger alliance priorities. It’s regrettable, but that’s the real world, they assert.

The far right, mostly but not exclusively main-island Japanese, is nearly obsessed with the China threat. They depart from mainstream conservatives by denying that the majority of Okinawans oppose the construction of the Henoko airbase or are suffering significant burdens. They believe that leftist radicals are perpetrating a fraud by sending a handful of professional agitators out to the beach to stage protests, that are then are covered by treasonous journalists. They see the shadowy hand of China everywhere.

Most of the international media picks from among one or more of these three broad narratives in their reporting on the Okinawa issue, although general attitudes toward U.S. power on the global stage also creep in from time to time. ❶

Michael Penn is president of the Shingetsu News Agency

Paris COP 21 by Danny Chivers

From the New Internationalist and Democracy Now

Poster in Paris

 

  163  684  

The crowd celebrates in Place de la Republique. by Danny Chivers/New Internationalist

The French government’s attempts to crack down on climate protesters have only made their voices louder, reports Danny Chivers.

Protest is currently banned in Paris. Any outdoor gathering of more than two people with a political message has been strictly prohibited under ‘state of emergency” government powers, following the 13 November terror attacks. Anyone taking part in an illegal demonstration could face fines of $3,972 or up to two months in prison.

The French government imposed the protest ban supposedly in the name of public safety, and yet – as campaigners have pointed out – large gatherings such as football matches and Christmas markets have been allowed to go ahead. Groups of people, it seems, only become hazardous when they have a political point to make. The government has seemed determined to use these powers freely, putting a number of climate campaigners under house arrest, raiding activist squats and attempting to prevent two separate bicycle convoys from reaching Paris.

So protest has been banned, which means if you thought you saw a protest today, you must have been mistaken. If you were at the park opposite the Bataclan at 9 o’clock this morning, where Indigenous peoples from North America and the South Pacific led songs, prayers and blessings for the lives lost in the Paris attacks, and also for the defence of Mother Earth against the extractive industries – well, that wasn’t a protest. It was a ceremony, so no problem there.

Then, at noon, if you happened to see ten thousand people forming a human chain along the pavement from Place de la République to Nation, holding banners and placards demanding climate justice – well, that can’t have been a protest either. Because, you know, protest is banned. Even when large groups started walking up and down the pavement, waving placards, chanting slogans, throwing giant inflatable ‘cobblestones’ in the air and dancing to a brass band – it can’t possibly have been a demonstration, because we all know that would be strictly illegal and immediately shut down. Wouldn’t it?

Of course, another possibility is that the French protest ban is simply unenforceable in the face of a large enough group of determined and passionate people with sufficient public sympathy on their side. Climate change is now so serious – and so urgent – that thousands were willing to risk arrest in Paris today to stand up for that cause, with the support of millions of observers around the world. In the event, there was little that the French state could do to prevent this – at least for the five hours that I was out on the streets observing the protests unfold.

Indigenous peoples and their allies in the human chain. Danny Chivers / New Internationalist

Having succeeded in forming the human chain, many people flooded back to Place de la République, to assemble with their placards and banners (again, in apparent infringement of the protest ban). Groups of protesters, chanting ‘l’etat d’urgence, c’est le climat’ (‘the state of the emergency is the climate’) and ‘Si on marche pas, ce ne marchera pas’ (‘if we don’t march, it’s not going to work’ – it sounds better in French!), began to take over the roundabout around the Place, bit by bit. Within half an hour, the traffic had been banished and the road was filled with dancing and cheering people.

Their message was clear, from their chants and their banners: as governments prepare for a climate summit that will deliver, at best, a catastrophic 2.7 degrees of global warming, the voice of the public is more important than ever. My New Internationalist colleagues and I spoke to people in the human chain whose lands and livelihoods were already being destroyed by rising sea levels, melting ice, and the pollution from fossil fuel extraction. We met people today who had lost friends in storms exacerbated by carbon pollution. Climate change is no longer a future threat – it is an unfolding act of violence in which rich governments and corporations are actively complicit. We cannot sit back and expect them to solve this problem for us; we need serious action by the public to challenge the political status quo.

The 2pm occupation of Avenue de la Republique Danny Chivers / New Internationalist

Today, as millions marched around the world, the crowds in Paris also refused to be silenced. At 2.00pm, several thousand people left the Place and marched – yes, marched – down Avenue de la République. After a few hundred metres, they were met by a wall of riot police. But rather than pick a fight, the crowd simply filled the road, leaving a clear space between themselves and the police, and chanted in defiance. Some gas grenades from the police – and one small charge – failed to deter the crowd, who remained there chanting ‘liberté’ and ‘police state’ for a good 15 minutes. Then, having seemingly decided they’d made their point, they turned and marched back to the square, to rejoin the occupation there. As I left Place de la République at 2.30pm, the crowds still filled the square.

SEE ALSO: Global Climate March – pictures from around the world

A few weeks ago, we were expecting hundreds of thousands of people to take part in a legal march in Paris today. This would have been a powerful show of strength from the climate movement, but arguably what happened today was even more powerful. Thousands of people were willing to risk arrest and police violence in order to demand justice for those most affected by climate change.

By seeking to silence political expression, the French government has only succeeded in making it louder.

Follow more events at COP21 in Paris on our New Internationalist media web hub.

- See more at: http://newint.org/blog/2015/11/29/what-paris-protest-ban/#sthash.yvMfgztt.dpuf

Photo: Amy Goodman locates Democracy Now! team members as police use tear gas on climate protesters in Paris. For the next two weeks, we broadcast live from the COP21 climate negotiations in France. Tune in 8AM ET daily at democracynow.org as we speak with Naomi Klein, Pablo Solón, José Bové and indigenous climate activists from around the world.