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2014 September 3 - 9 [POLITICS]

Okinawa Prefectural Assembly demands immediate stop to US base construction in Henoko

The Okinawa Prefectural Assembly on September 3 adopted by a majority of votes a written statement demanding an immediate halt to the construction of a new U.S. base in the Henoko district in Nago City in the prefecture.

The statement points out that the government has already started construction work in defiance of democracy and trampling on the dignity of Okinawans.

The statement was jointly proposed by 22 members of the prefectural assembly, including the Japanese Communist Party members.

The adopted document sharply criticizes the national government for taking hostile actions against citizens staging protests in front of the gate of U.S. Camp Schwab and in the sea area off Henoko. It points out that the central government is acting like the U.S. military which took over the land owned by Okinawans by using “bayonets and bulldozers” during its occupation of Okinawa. The document calls for the immediate halt to the ongoing boring survey and other tasks being undertaken for the U.S. base construction.

In the assembly deliberation before the vote, JCP lawmaker Toguchi Osamu said, “Even if the Abe administration forcibly continues with the construction work, he will never bring us to heel. The more the authorities put pressure on Okinawans, the more our anger intensifies.”

The Naha City Assembly also approved a similar statement on August 22.


Past related article:
> Naha City Assembly demands halt to US base construction work in Henoko [August 23, 2014]