Japan Press Weekly

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2014 October 15 - 21 [POLITICS]

Nago City Assembly demands halt to preparatory work for US base construction

Okinawa’s Nago City Assembly on October 16 adopted a statement calling on the central government to stop the preparatory work to construct a new U.S. military base in the Henoko district, by a majority vote.

This is the first time for the city assembly to approve this kind of statement since the Defense Ministry’s Okinawa Defense Bureau started the exploratory drilling in August off Nago’s Henoko coastal area.

The adopted opinion paper highlights the fact that anti-base construction forces won both the city mayoral race in January and the city assembly election in September. It criticizes Prime Minister Abe Shinzo’s government for forcibly launching the preparatory construction work while claiming that it would provide local people with detailed explanations about the construction project to obtain their understanding.

The statement demands that the Abe administration abandon the project, saying, “The national government is undermining democracy by insulting the dignity of Okinawans, including the residents of Nago City.”


Past related articles:
> Anti-base candidates win majority in Nago city assembly election [September 9, 2014]
> JCP secretariat head demands halt to base construction responding to Nago election results [September 9, 2014]