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Okinawa re-elects anti-US governor

Posted on: Mon November 29, 2010

TOKYO: The governor of the Japanese island of Okinawa was reelected on Sunday and immediately called for the removal of a controversial US military base which has strained ties between Tokyo and Washington.     

Japan and the United States squabbled for much of the past year over the relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, amid hardening opposition among residents of the southern island to the large US military presence there.     

The base lies in an urban area of Okinawa, where residents have long complained about aircraft noise and the risk of accidents, and is set to be relocated to a coastal location on the island.

Incumbent Hirokazu Nakaima, 71, beat his rival Yoichi Iha, 58, former mayor of Ginowan city, which currently hosts Futenma.     

 I am demanding the base be removed off the island and the Japan-US agreement be reviewed, Nakaima said in comments reported by the Jiji Press news agency.

 It s up to the (central) government how to deal with it.  The governor has the authority to block any offshore runway construction, potentially putting a major obstacle in the way of the base move.     

Initially the government pledged to move the base off Okinawa, before performing a U-turn under Washington pressure. But high tensions in the region following a North Korean artillery attack on a South Korean island last week and Tokyo s recent diplomatic spats with Beijing and Moscow highlight Japan s need for US security support, say analysts.     

As a result Prime Minister Naoto Kan s government faces a tough task in cultivating an alliance referred to by US President Barack Obama as a security cornerstone while not angering voters at home, say analysts.     

Both Nakaima and Iha were openly against the relocation of the controversial airbase on the island, preferring to see the base leave the island altogether.

But Kan s ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) prefers Nakaima as he is seen as more flexible. Nakaima had once approved the relocation plan but changed his mind under growing voter opposition after the DPJ-led government reneged on its pledge to move the base off the island altogether. The vote result reflects the will of Okinawan people, Tetsuro Fukuyama, the Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary, told reporters.

Courtesy : The News