Okinawans say they felt threatened by foreign minister

Japan Press Weekly

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Okinawans say they felt threatened by foreign minister

Okinawans are infuriated by the Foreign Minister’s remarks over the burning issue regarding the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station.

On December 5, Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya visited Okinawa and tried to persuade local residents to accept the plan to move the Futenma base functions to the coastal area of the Henoko district of Nago City from Ginowan City. About 100 people, mainly Democratic Party supporters, attended the meeting which shut out the media.

Okada reportedly said to the participants, “Moving the U.S. Marines to Guam and returning the vacated base site to Okinawa will only be possible after the relocation of the Futenma operation to Henoko,” as if he was speaking on behalf of the United States.

A resident at the meeting shouted, “Are you threatening us, Mr. Foreign Minister?”

The Okinawa Times, a local daily, reported on the following day that Okada repeatedly emphasized the importance of maintaining and strengthening the Japan-U.S. alliance in complete disregard of the residents’ desperate opposition to the U.S. base.

Local residents assembled outside the meeting site to express opposition to the plan to relocate the Futenma operation to Henoko. They shouted, “The Democratic Party must keep its election pledge to move the Futenma base out of Okinawa or Japan! No relocation to Henoko!”

Earlier in the day, Okada met with Mayor Iha Yoichi of Ginowan City which hosts the Futenma base. In a symposium held after this meeting, Iha indignantly said, “My meeting with the foreign minister ended in total disagreement.”

A Ginowan City official in charge of the Futenma base issue who attended the meeting between Iha and Okada, stated as follows:

“All that Foreign Minister Okada did was try to persuade the mayor to accept his viewpoint. He was not willing to listen to the mayor from the outset. I do not understand why he came to Okinawa. After briefly listening to our arguments, he just said, ‘Differences persist between us in the way we understand the issue.’ I was indeed disappointed because his position is no different from that of the former LDP-led government.”

- Akahata, December 10, 2009