Japan Press Weekly

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2015 April 15 - 21 [POLITICS]

PM Office doesn’t want press to report what Okinawa Governor says

Saying, “Press corps, please leave,” the staff of the Prime Minister’s Office suddenly forced the press to leave a conference room while Okinawa Governor Onaga Takeshi was speaking in a meeting with Prime Minister Abe Shinzo on April 17, stunning the governor.

The reporters present listened to Abe through to the end who claimed as usual that the U.S. base construction in Henoko is “the only solution” to the base issue, but they could not directly hear the response from Onaga requesting that Abe convey Okinawans’ strong opposition to the base construction to U.S. President Brack Obama.

The PM Office probably wanted to keep the media from reporting what the Okinawa governor said to the prime minister.

Initially, the PM Office promised to show the first 5 minutes of Onaga’s statement to the press. However, a few minutes after he began speaking, the staff of the PM Office forced the reporters and camera crews out of the conference room.

The United States often claims that it will not locate its military bases where they are not welcomed. By shutting out the press from the meeting, Abe exposed his reluctance to inform Washington of the demands of Okinawans.