Okada: moving Futenma Base outside Okinawa is not an option

Japan Press Weekly

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Okada: moving Futenma Base outside Okinawa is not an option

Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya on October 23 said that moving the U.S. Futenma Base outside Okinawa cannot be considered as an option, a clear indication of the change of policy of the government which previously insisted that the base should be relocated either outside the prefecture or even outside the nation.

At a press conference, Okada said that moving the base outside Okinawa would prolong negotiations with the U.S. and extend its existence. He said he favors two options: the construction of a new U.S. base on the sea off the Henoko district in Nago City or the consolidation of the Futenma base and the U.S. Kadena Base in Okinawa.

Meeting with Okada on October 20, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that the base construction in Henoko is the only realistic plan.

Onishi Teruo, representing Okinawa's Nago Council against the Construction of the U.S. On-Sea Heliport, made the following comment: Intimidated by Defense Secretary Gates, the Democratic Party of Japan stopped calling for moving the base outside Okinawa. Is this what the DPJ calls an equal Japan-U.S. relation? The government does not even attempt to understand Okinawans’ demand for a peaceful Okinawa without foreign military bases.

- Akahata, October 24, 2009