The Japanese government on Wednesday took countermeasures against Okinawa over its recent move to block landfill work for a key U. S. military base transfer within the small southern island prefecture. The central government requested the land ministry to review and invalidate the Okinawa government’s decision that has suspended
The Japanese government on Wednesday took countermeasures against Okinawa over its recent move to block landfill work for a key U. S. military base transfer within the small southern island prefecture.
The central government requested the land ministry to review and invalidate the Okinawa government’s decision that has suspended work for the controversial relocation of U. S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.
« We still hope to realize an early (base) relocation to the Henoko area and the return of (land occupied by) Futenma Air Station, » Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told a press conference.
Okinawa Gov Denny Tamaki told reporters in Naha the central government move « tramples on the will of voters shown in the (Okinawa) gubernatorial election and is totally unacceptable. »
Tamaki, who is opposed to the base transfer plan, won the Sept 30 race, beating a major rival backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
The central government has been seeking to relocate the U. S. base from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to the less populated coastal Henoko area of Nago, based on the Japan-U. S. agreement in 1996.
« I told Prime Minister Abe that the burdens of national security should be shared by all prefectures of Japan, and asked him to establish a dialogue (between the central and Okinawa governments), » Tamaki said, referring to his meeting with Abe in Tokyo last Friday, their first since Tamaki took office.
