 Remove U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station instead of relocating it : JCP secretariat head Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on February 28 said, "There cannot be a solution to the issue of U.S. bases without their early removal. Their relocation is not the answer. We will continue to fight to get them removed from Okinawa." He made this statement at a news conference in the Diet in response to a senior U.S. government official's recent comment that the U.S. government will not necessarily stick to the plan for a new base to be constructed in the sea off the Henoko district of Nago City as a relocation site for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station. Ichida said, "The U.S. official's comment shows that in the face of public opinion and Okinawans' protests, the Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO)-oriented line has become contradictory and even gone bankrupt." He also stressed that the U.S. government has not yet given up its initial plan to construct the new base in the sea and will continue to pursue the SACO line. (end) |