[Various media organs, following the AP press agency (AFAIAA Reuters
aren't saying it) are saying that Fischer and Watai would not be allowed
to marry unless Fischer could prove US citizenship. (For example, this is
said in the 'Guardian' article included below). Some might say this puts
him in a 'catch 22' position; others might perceive it as an annoying set
of circumstances for the US authorities. It strikes me as exactly the sort
of knife-twisting that one expects from bureaucrats who want to 'find a
reason' for denying someone something - reminiscent of when they wouldn't
accept his asylum application because the photos didn't have his name
written on the back. Isn't the letter from the US consul sufficient proof
of US citizenship for these purposes?

But this is assuming it is something more than propaganda/spin. I would be
interested to know whether it is actually true that Japanese law bans
stateless people, such as refugees accorded refugee status by the UN High
Commissioner for Refugees, from getting married.

It is good to know that some people - Boris Spassky, Russell Targ, and
Miyoko Watai - are acting honourably in this. Kudos to them all.

-banana note]


From:

http://www.freebobbyfischer.net/blog...chess_gre.html


***BEGIN***

August 17, 2004

World chess great to marry Japanese companion

Bobby Fischer and Miyoko Watai to marry

Ms. Miyoko Watai (acting President Japan Chess Association) has released a
statement (in English and Japanese) about her decision with Bobby Fischer
(who won the World Chess Championship in 1972) to marry. Bobby Fischer is
currently being held by Japanese Immigration on the false charge of
holding a revoked passport and faces possible deportation from Japan.

Fischer and Watai, who first met in 1973, have both completed and signed
the Japanese legal documents for marriage. The marriage documents have
been witnessed by John Bosnitch, a Tokyo-based Canadian communications
consultant, and by Mr. Ichiji Ishii, former Vice Foreign Minister of
Japan.

WATAI STATEMENT: (English follows Japanese)

[...]

Bobby Fischer and I have decided to marry.

I first met Bobby Fischer in 1973 when he visited Japan, accompanied by
another American man, to meet several members of the Japan Chess
Association. I was 28 at the time. One male member and one female member
from our Japan Chess Association were offered the chance to play Bobby
Fischer. I was the female player. Just one year before, Bobby had become
the Chess World Champion after defeating former World Champion Boris
Spassky of the Soviet Union, in Reykjavik, Iceland. Bobby was gracious and
said we played well.

Soon after playing Bobby, I was invited to attend a dinner at which Bobby
was present. We spoke and the next day I gave Bobby a tour of Tokyo. We
became friends and we stayed in touch by writing to each other.

In the next year, 1974, the Women's Chess Olympiad was held in Medellin,
Columbia, and I was selected to be a member of the Japan team. On the way
to Columbia, I visited Bobby in America. Over the years since, we have
seen each other many times and have always kept in close touch by writing
to each other and by talking by telephone.

In 2000, Bobby returned to Japan and stayed with me at my home. Since
then, Bobby has spent most of his time in Japan and we have lived together
here. We have also traveled together extensively inside and outside Japan.
Until today, we managed to keep our relationship entirely private, even
from our closest friends. However, under the current difficult
circumstances, this is no longer possible. I am therefore releasing this
statement about the background of our relationship in order to stress that
our feelings are genuine and are based on our years of close
companionship.

Sadly, I regret say that this day of the announcement of our impending
marriage – a day that would normally be one of celebration – is for me is
just another day of worry and anxiety. My husband-to-be is being held by
Japanese Immigration and faces possible deportation. I am praying every
day for Bobby's release, so that we can be reunited and be allowed to
continue our life together here in Japan, quietly and normally as man and
woman as we have been for the past four years.

We have taken the very serious decision to marry in the midst of this
crisis in the hope that disclosing the reality that we have been living
together as man and wife might help the two of us to return to that happy
life we had been sharing before Bobby's unwarranted detention. After more
than 30 years, we have made a very serious decision that we firmly hope
will be respected as the right of every man and woman.

Sincerely,


Miyoko Watai

August 17, 2004
Tokyo

***END***

From the 'Guardian':

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4427610,00.html:

***BEGIN ARTICLE***

Fischer's Fiancee: Marriage Plans Genuine

Tuesday August 17, 2004 10:31 AM

By JOSEPH COLEMAN

Associated Press Writer

TOKYO (AP) - Former chess champion Bobby Fischer's announcement thathe is
engaged to a Japanese woman could win him sympathy among Japanese
officials and help him avoid deportation to the United States, his fiancee
and one of his supporters said Tuesday.

Fischer, wanted in the United States for allegedly violating international
sanctions on former Yugoslavia, was detained in Japan last month when he
tried to travel on an invalid American passport. He has been battling a
deportation order to the United States.

The chess legend's lawyer, Masako Suzuki, announced the marriage plan on
Monday as she pressed the U.S. State Department to send a consular officer
to Fischer's detention center outside of Tokyo so he could renounce his
U.S. citizenship.

Fischer's fiancee, Miyoko Watai, the president of Japan's Chess
Association and a long-term friend of his, said in a statement Tuesday
that the two first met in 1973 and had been living together in Japan for
the past four years.

``We have taken the very serious decision to marry in the midst of this
crisis in the hope that disclosing ... that we have been living together
as man and wife might help the two of us return to that happy life we had
been sharing,'' she wrote.

Marriage to a Japanese citizen would not have any legal effect on the
deportation order against Fischer, but supporters hope the engagement will
win him some sympathy with the Japanese Justice Ministry, said Fischer
adviser John Bosnitch.

``This will have no legal bearing, but it is a humanitarian consideration
that these two individuals have been living as man and wife for four
years,'' said Bosnitch.

Fischer and Watai, however, face some legal hurdles before they can get
married.

Under Japanese law, Fischer has to present proof he is a U.S. citizen and
a U.S. government document proving he is not already married to someone
else. But he cannot get those documents unless a U.S. consular officer
visits him in his detention center outside of Tokyo, Bosnitch said.

A U.S. Embassy official visited Fischer soon after he was detained, but
the embassy has not acted yet on a request for a follow-up visit. Fischer,
an outspoken critic of the United States, also wants the meeting so he can
renounce his American citizenship.

Watai, who has been active in supporting Fischer's case against
deportation, said the couple had previously kept their relationship
private, even from their closest friends.

But she said that ``under the current difficult circumstances,'' the two
decided to reveal their romance.

``I am therefore releasing this statement about the background of our
relationship in order to stress that our feelings are genuine and are
based on our years of close companionship,'' Watai said in the statement,
which was faxed to news organizations in Tokyo.

The marriage announcement came as Fischer and his supporters were
exploring various ways of avoiding deportation.

He is fighting his detention and the deportation order in court. He has
applied for asylum in Japan and his supporters have mentioned plans to
apply for refugee status with the United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees.

At the same time, he is attempting to renounce his U.S. citizenship.
Fischer's animosity toward his homeland is well-known, and he once praised
the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in a radio interview, saying America
should be ``wiped out.''

Fischer soared to fame when he defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union
in a series of games in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1972. The Cold War win made
him the first U.S. world champion in more than a century.

Increasingly erratic and reclusive, he lost his title as world champion in
1978 and then largely vanished from the public eye until he reappeared to
play a rematch in the former Yugoslavia against Spassky in 1992.

Though Fischer won, and took home more than $3 million in prize money, he
played in violation of United Nations' sanctions and has been wanted in
the United States ever since.

***END ARTICLE***

--
banana "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you
give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to
Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the
rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)

In article , banana banana@REMOVE_T
HIS.borve.demon.co.uk writes
[Various media organs, following the AP press agency (AFAIAA Reuters
aren't saying it) are saying that Fischer and Watai would not be allowed
to marry unless Fischer could prove US citizenship. (For example, this is
said in the 'Guardian' article included below).

The Chessbase article
http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1855 sources this to
what "a Tokyo ward official, Yoshihisa Yabe, told The Associated Press",
namely "that a person in Fischer's situation would have to provide a
valid U.S. passport or a U.S. document confirming his citizenship's
validity in order to get married in Japan."

I can't see why the letter from the US consulate revoking Fischer's US
passport, and promising him access to a one-time document allowing his
return to the US, should not be counted as a US document confirming his
US citizenship. I would also be very surprised if it is impossible under
Japanese law for stateless people to get married. I would have thought
that the point is that people who aren't Japanese citizens are required
to prove their identity, which is something different both from having
citizenship and from possessing a travel document.

--
banana "The thing I hate about you, Rowntree, is the way you
give Coca-Cola to your scum, and your best teddy-bear to
Oxfam, and expect us to lick your frigid fingers for the
rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)

banana writes:
I can't see why the letter from the US consulate revoking Fischer's US
passport, and promising him access to a one-time document allowing his
return to the US, should not be counted as a US document confirming his
US citizenship.

But Fischer is trying to renounce his US citizenship. I guess he better
hold off on that until after the wedding.