During a press conference the Land Minister Keiichi Ishii said that the Okinawan authorities' attempts to stop the construction of a new base “could have a negative impact on a relationship of trust between the United States and the US-Japanese alliance.”
“One can only express regret that the government has ignored the lawful treatment of the administration of Okinawa, reflecting the will of the population of the prefecture. Assuming that the security is important for the entire country, it was natural for the government to act upon the will of the people of Okinawa. I think that the Japanese government in this regard has nothing to do with democracy.”
However, such actions of the Japanese government were easily predictable. For example, few Russian experts doubted that Tokyo would ignore the will of the people of Okinawa, who are tired of the US military presence there.
The presence of American bases in Okinawa does not increase the safety of the island. On the contrary, it makes it a potential target for Chinese rockets if the US-China situation escalates.
“This is not such a fantastic scenario, if we take into account the determination of the United States to actively use its armed forces to prevent the strengthening of China's position in the region,” Hanashiro told Sputnik.
On October 13 the governor of Okinawa Prefecture Takeshi Onaga officially withdrew permission for the construction of the mound in the Henoko coastal strip, issued by the previous governor Hirokazu Nakaima, in order to transfer it to the Henoko district of the Futenma US air base and the construction of a new military base.
The deputy of the lower house of the local parliament Seiken Akamine spoke to Sputnik saying that when two years ago in exchange for 300 billion yen from the government the former governor allowed reforms in Okinawa the residents experienced incredible shame.
“For more than a year we have been doing everything possible to restore this lost pride. The construction of the mound in the Henoko coastal zone permanently fixes the status of Okinawa Island, where there are military bases. In addition, we lose the ability to preserve the rich nature of Henoko. Permission for the construction of the airport in Henoko was withdrawn at the time, particularly for these two reasons. I am very proud of this decision.”
The government is likely to try to resume the construction work, using all kinds of dirty methods but the people of Okinawa Prefecture intend to resist by protesting at the entrance to Henoko and at sea.
