Okinawa Gov. Onaga Set to Revoke Approval of US Base Relocation

Okinawa Government, Takeshi Onaga seems is going to attempt to avoid the central government's arrangements to move a U.S. air base in Okinawa prefecture after talks between the two sides did not come to an agreement.

On Sept. 9, a day after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was re-chosen unopposed as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, Okinawa Vice-Government Mitsuo Ageda approached his manager in Naha, the capital of the Japan's southernmost prefecture.

 "It has been recognized that the approval has defects," Onaga told a press conference of the move to block work to reclaim land from the sea to build a coastal airstrip to replace the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma.

In the prefectural capital of Naha, Onaga told reporters that "This is a major step to realizing my campaign promise, which was to use all available means to prevent the building of a new base at Henoko," 

He said he made the decision after a prefecture-appointed panel looked into how and why then-Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima approved the landfill application. The panel discovered legal flaws in July that Onaga said would allow the prefecture to revoke permission.

In August, the central government announced a one-month suspension to the construction work to discuss the issue with Onaga. But by the Sept. 9 deadline, no compromise had been reached.

He said his decision "will be the first step to prevent the construction of a base at Henoko by every measure." Henoko is the cape where the base is to be transferred.

Since coming to office in November 2014 by opposing the Henoko project, Onaga and the prefectural government have lobbied against it not only in Tokyo but also in Washington.

Next week, the governor will speak to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva about Okinawa's position on the Henoko issue and its history with the U.S. military.