WASHINGTON —
Okinawa Gov Takeshi Onaga has criticized Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U. S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis for agreeing to proceed with the planned relocation of a U. S. base within Okinawa Prefecture.
Onaga told reporters in Washington it was “regrettable” that Abe and Mattis agreed in Tokyo to advance the bilateral plan to move U. S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to the less-populated Henoko coastal area of Nago.
“If the U. S. and Japanese governments stick to the view that Henoko is the only solution to resolve issues involving the Futenma base, it will leave serious problems in the future,” Onaga said.
Onaga was speaking after meeting with state and defense department officials in charge of Japanese affairs in Washington where the U.
