August 14, 2015
Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi met with Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga Yoshihide in the prefectural office on August 12 to discuss the issue of the construction of a new U.S. military base in Okinawa’s Henoko district. The governor sharply criticized the central government for clinging to the construction project.
Facing widespread protests opposing the project, the Abe government recently announced that it will suspend the construction work for one month from August 10 and intensively debate on the issue with prefectural authorities. This is the first talk between them.
In the meeting, Suga referred to the 1996 agreement between Tokyo and Washington to close down the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station which is located in the middle of residential areas in Okinawa’s Ginowan City. He reiterated the government’s conventional view that the Henoko base is “the only alternative” to the Futenma base.
Governor Onaga pointed to the fact that after World War II, the U.S. occupation army unlawfully expropriated land owned by Okinawans and built military facilities. He claimed that it is outrageous for the Japanese and U.S. governments to force the prefecture to offer an alternative facility to the Futenma base which should never have existed in the first place.
The central government spokesman expressed an intention to work for the return of U.S. Camp Foster and Camp Kinzer, both in the prefecture. However, the governor pointed out that the space occupied by the two facilities is less than 1% of the total area of U.S. bases in Okinawa.
Suga went on to state that the USMC in Okinawa is acting as a main deterrent protecting Japan and that if the helicopter units stationed at Futenma are relocated to outside Okinawa, it will undermine the integrity and mobility of the U.S. forces.
Noting that the present security environment surrounding Japan is not as dangerous as during the Cold War era, Onaga argued that it is a serious mistake to expand U.S. base capabilities under the pretext of maintaining Japan’s deterrent strength.
Both sides are going to hold talks about five times in total by early September.
Past related article:
> Okinawans granted one-month suspension of Henoko construction work [August 5, 2015]
Facing widespread protests opposing the project, the Abe government recently announced that it will suspend the construction work for one month from August 10 and intensively debate on the issue with prefectural authorities. This is the first talk between them.
In the meeting, Suga referred to the 1996 agreement between Tokyo and Washington to close down the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station which is located in the middle of residential areas in Okinawa’s Ginowan City. He reiterated the government’s conventional view that the Henoko base is “the only alternative” to the Futenma base.
Governor Onaga pointed to the fact that after World War II, the U.S. occupation army unlawfully expropriated land owned by Okinawans and built military facilities. He claimed that it is outrageous for the Japanese and U.S. governments to force the prefecture to offer an alternative facility to the Futenma base which should never have existed in the first place.
The central government spokesman expressed an intention to work for the return of U.S. Camp Foster and Camp Kinzer, both in the prefecture. However, the governor pointed out that the space occupied by the two facilities is less than 1% of the total area of U.S. bases in Okinawa.
Suga went on to state that the USMC in Okinawa is acting as a main deterrent protecting Japan and that if the helicopter units stationed at Futenma are relocated to outside Okinawa, it will undermine the integrity and mobility of the U.S. forces.
Noting that the present security environment surrounding Japan is not as dangerous as during the Cold War era, Onaga argued that it is a serious mistake to expand U.S. base capabilities under the pretext of maintaining Japan’s deterrent strength.
Both sides are going to hold talks about five times in total by early September.
Past related article:
> Okinawans granted one-month suspension of Henoko construction work [August 5, 2015]
