TOKYO, Oct. 12 -- New Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki in talks with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Friday maintained his stance that a controversial U.S. base should not be relocated within Japan's southernmost prefecture and that this reflected the voice of the Okinawan people.
"I'm opposed to building a new base in Henoko and the people of Okinawa expressed their opposition in the gubernatorial election. I ask Prime Minister Abe to listen sincerely to the voices of the people of Okinawa," Tamaki was quoted as saying at the start of the meeting.
Abe, for his part, said the government's plans to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to the coastal district of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa, remained the same.
People of Okinawa want the base to be relocated outside of the prefecture and out of Japan altogether.
Tamaki told a press briefing on the matter that the Okinawa and the central government remain divided over the issue and intimated that he might petition Washington over the controversial and largely opposed base relocation plan.
"Two successive Okinawa governors have stood against the relocation plan. I'd like to make an appeal that the base issue should not be left unaddressed to the United States too," said Tamaki.
In the meeting held at Abe's office and also attended by Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Tamaki also called for a "fundamental review" of Japan's agreement with the United States on the status of U.S. forces.
【国际英语资讯:Spotlight: New Okinawa governor urges Abe to forego U.S. base move, fundamentally review SOF】相关文章:
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