Japan Press Weekly

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2015 February 11 - 17 [US FORCES]

US military far cry from being ‘good neighbors’: Okinawa governor

Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi on February 13 commented on the recent media reports about U.S. military officers’ abusive remarks against anti-base citizens, saying that they are a far cry from being considered “good neighbors”.

At a press conference in the prefectural government office building, Governor Onaga said that their remarks are shameful and make him angry. He added that the U.S. military reiterated that they try to be Okinawan people’s “good neighbor” whenever the opportunity arises, but their remarks show that they are anything but “good neighbors”.

On February 9, the Japan Times reported that U.S. Marine Captain Caleb D. Eames, a senior spokesperson for the Marine Corps in Okinawa, described injuries to anti-base local residents by the central government’s strong measures as “laughable”.

Four days before, another U.S. Marine officer insulted residents of the Takae district in Higashi Village who are staging a sit-in against the construction of U.S. military helipads in their village. Major Tim Kao, commanding officer of the U.S. Jungle Warfare Training Center in northern Okinawa which includes Higashi Village, said to protesters that they probably receive money from the communist party in Japan, Akahata and a local newspaper reported on February 14.