Cabinet official threatens Nago's anti-base citizen

"The plan to construct a new U.S. base in Nago is a supreme order," said a cabinet official in Nago City, Okinawa Prefecture on January 19.

Kakazu Chiken, the cabinet secretary in charge of Okinawa, was in the city to help boost the mayoral candidate who is in favor of the state-of-the-art U.S. air base construction.

He said that the construction of a U.S. base in Nago is an "important promise made by the U.S. and Japanese governments, and it must be implemented without fail."

In the Nago City Assembly session on January 22, several members criticized the Kakazu statement, saying that this reminds them of "U.S. forces which had occupied Okinawa till 1972," and called on the assembly to demand that the cabinet official withdraw his remarks. (end)