usforce2

Stop drilling survey for a new U.S. base: Okinawans

About 400 Okinawans on April 22 held a rally in the Henoko district of Nago City, calling for an immediate halt to the drilling survey now under way in preparation for the construction of a new U.S. base in waters off Henoko.

Participants included many local elderly people. They said, "We want our children and grandchildren to inherit the beauty of the rich nature and sea where we were born and raised."

Speaking in the rally on behalf of the Japanese Communist Party Okinawa Prefectural Committee, Furugen Muneyoshi, who is also a candidate in Okinawa constituency of the Upper House election, said that U.S. Marines dispatched from Okinawa killed more than 600 Iraqis in Fallujah. He expressed his determination to do his utmost to unconditionally remove the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma base, saying, "Our struggle is not only to protect the sea off Henoko and the hopes of Okinawans, but also to protect world peace."

The government is pushing ahead with a plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, now located in Ginowan City, to the sea off the Henoko District of Nago City.

About 60 Nago citizens began a sit-in protest on April 19 near the drilling survey site. (end)