August 26 & 27, 2016

Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi denounced the Abe government on August 25 for dispatching a large number of riot police officers to the Takae district of Higashi Village in a bid to remove local residents staging protests against the construction of U.S. military helipads.

At a news conference in the prefectural office building, Onaga said, “I understand that the government dispatched 500 to 800 riot police officers there. I have to say that that is extremely excessive.”

The governor also referred to the fact that the defense authorities suspended the work during the campaign period for July’s Upper House election but that they suddenly began bringing construction materials to the site immediately after the election. He pointed out that the central government is eroding any trust between Tokyo and Okinawa that is important to settle the U.S. base issue in Okinawa.

Riot police obstruct news reporters

The riot police on August 20 forcibly blocked reporters of two Okinawan dailies from covering the removal of local protesters from near the construction site.

According to the two local papers, the Okinawa Times and the Ryukyu Shimpo, police officers grabbed the reporters by the arm and pushed them hard from behind when they were taking photos there. The riot squad then took them to a police vehicle and locked them up for 20 to 30 minutes.

The Japan Federation of Newspaper Workers’ Unions (Shimbun Roren) published a statement on August 24 in protest against the incident.

The statement notes that the news media, including local newspapers in Okinawa, have a duty to report what is going on at the scene. It goes on to stress, “We are determined to fight against any act violating the freedom of the press.”

Past related article:
> More than 1,000 people rally to block helipad construction in Takae [August 6, 2016]