Protesters, who held banners that read "No War, No Base in Henoko," "The government should follow Okinawa's public opinion" and "Stop constructing new base in Henoko," shouted slogans through speakers.
Kato Noriko, an organizer for the US base relocation campaign, told Xinhua that they were trying to stop the building of the airbase replacement in Henoko area as there were already too many US bases in Okinawa.
"Okinawa people oppose the relocation plan reached between the Japanese central government and the United States. And we are here to protest against what they want to do in Henoko," she said.
Another organizer, who identified himself as Nohira, said they wanted to send a message to Abe and the United States that Japanese people, especially Okinawa people, opposed the construction of a new base in Henoko.
- They also put an advertisement on the Washington Post when Abe is in Washington.
Abe kicked off his week-long visit to the United States on Sunday with a focus on enhancing Japan-US military alliance.
The central government here and the United States agreed to move the airbase from the populated Ginowan area in Okinawa, which hosts 70 percent US bases in Japan, to the less crowded coast area of Henoko, but the Okinawa prefectural government opposes the plan and had issued an order to stop the construction of the new base.
Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga told Abe in their meeting earlier this month that he would never allow the central government to build a new base and asked Abe to convey Okinawa's " clear opposition" against the relocation plan to US President Barack Obama.
Resistance to the new base flared up recently due to Tokyo's insistence to go ahead the relocation plan. Local protesters have clashed with police.
Source:Xinhua - globaltimes.cn
26/4/15
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Okinawa governor criticizes US bases damaging local economy ...
ReplyDeleteTakeshi Onaga, the governor of the Japanese southernmost island prefecture of Okinawa, on Wednesday criticized that US bases in Okinawa has been damaging local economic growth and Japan is only a follower of US policy.
Onaga said that US base-related revenue only takes about 4.9 percent of the prefecture's gross domestic products, a tumble of some 45-percent since the 1945, adding that local economy witnessed momentum after exploiting and developing the land returned from the US bases.
Okinawa merely accounts for about 0.6 percent of entire Japanese territory, but the tiny island prefecture is home to about 74 percent of US military bases in Japan. The governor commented that the US bases are the major obstacle for the prefecture to develop economy.
Onaga, an opponent against Japan-US agreement that stipulates to transfer the controversial US Futenma airbase in the prefecture's populated Ginowan city to Okinawa's coastal Henoko area, also chided that the Abe's administration can do nothing to help Okinawa people, but follow the United States.
"The United States told Okinawa that Okinawa's autonomy will be a myth during the 27 years when the United States occupied Okinawa, " said Onaga, adding that "I'm wondering that whether the United States also told Japan that Japan's independence is also a myth."
The governor said although he values Japan-US defense alliance, but the security-related cost should not be burdened only by Okinawa, stressing that the land now used by US bases were given involuntarily to them as they forced the Okinawan people to do so.
"If bases will be permanently existed in Okinawa, the Okinawa battle that claimed about 100,000 Okinawa civilians' lives 70 years ago would happen again," the governor told a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan.........http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/922648.shtml
20/5/15
Okinawa Governor Says No to US Base Relocation, Citing Ecological Concerns...
ReplyDeleteThe governor of the southernmost Japanese prefecture of Okinawa will revoke his predecessor’s approval to relocate a controversial US military base from the region, local media reported Monday.
Abe’s chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga announced last month that the relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Futenma would be postponed to September.
The publication said Tokyo resumed relocation work at Futenma on Saturday.
Onaga’s announcement yields to a three-week procedure, including consultations with the Okinawa Defense Bureau. A formal announcement is expected in mid-October......http://sptnkne.ws/JrV
14/9/15