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NAHA--Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki called on Defense Minister Minoru Kihara to retract plans to build a Self-Defense Force training site in his prefecture as the central government moves to bolster defenses in the nation’s southwestern islands.
NAHA--The government will proceed with land reclamation work for a U.S. military base project in Okinawa Prefecture despite the prefectural governor’s demands to suspend it, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.
NAHA--Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki denounced the central government for starting land reclamation work for relocating a U.S. military base by overriding his official rejection of the application.
The central government will play its legal card and approve changes to land reclamation work on behalf of Okinawa Prefecture on Dec. 28 for the relocation of a U.S. military base within the prefecture, the land minister said.
Two factors have driven the debate over the planned U.S. military realignment in Japan: campaign pledges made by the Democratic Party of Japan and complaints from Okinawans about the presence of the U.S. military. These factors have had a particularly strong impact on efforts to preserve the Marine Corps Air Station on Okinawa. However, other critical factors—national interests, regional threats, and the U.S.–Japan alliance’s military requirements—are absent from the discussion over the station’s scheduled relocation from Futenma to a more remote locale. The Obama Administration shou...