To eliminate the risk posed by the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, the government should persistently try to find common ground with the prefectural government.
In connection with the issue of relocating the air base to the Henoko district in Nago in the prefecture, the Defense Ministry has taken measures to counter the prefecture's withdrawal of approval for landfill work necessary for the relocation.
The Defense Ministry has filed a request with Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism Minister Keiichi Ishii for a review of the prefectural government's withdrawal of the approval under the Administrative Complaint Investigation Law, while also filing a petition to invalidate the withdrawal temporarily. Meanwhile, the ministry has shelved filing an action to seek a revocation of the withdrawal. Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya said he hopes to solve the immediate problem swiftly.
If Ishii approves the stay of the withdrawal, the landfill work will resume. Injection of earth and sand into the landfill area of sea will become a major milestone in advancing the relocation plan.
When then Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga decided to cancel the landfill approval in 2015, the government took similar steps. In the ensuing lawsuit battle, the Supreme Court concluded that the steps taken by Onaga were illegal. It is utterly unproductive to repeat such a fruitless conflict.
The presence of the U.S. Marine Corps troops stationed in Okinawa and based at the Futenma Air Station is vital not only for Japan's defense but also for the stability of Asia. On the other hand, however, the base is located close to houses and schools, troubling local residents with the danger of being involved with accidents and damage from noise.
Don't inflame issue
In response to a strong demand from Okinawa Prefecture, Japan-U.S. negotiations were held. It is a weighty fact that Henoko was decided as an alternative facility site for Futenma through many years of work that included local governments. Given the present security environment, the ongoing plan can be considered the sole plan for realizing the relocation most quickly.
Newly elected Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki also advocates the station's closure and the land's return to Okinawa Prefecture. It should be rational for Tamaki, as the top official of the prefectural government, to deal with the central government after having thoroughly considered realistic measures.
This time, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks with Tamaki soon after his election as governor, as Tamaki requested. Abe's dialogues with Onaga, who emphasized his confrontation with the central government, came to be held less often, which made the situation somewhat more strained. Abe, for his part, is required to maintain a posture of dialogue.
In line with bilateral accords between Japan and the United States, the return of the West Futenma Housing Area to Okinawa Prefecture, for instance, was realized. Should the Henoko relocation plan bog down, concerns cannot be entirely dismissed that the whole plan of reorganizing and retrenching the facilities of the U.S. forces could come to a standstill.
In Okinawa Prefecture, there has been no end to troubles involving U.S. servicemen or U.S. military aircraft. Including measures to prevent such incidents from recurring, the government should hold constant discussions with the U.S. forces on how the Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) should be applied. To advance the lessening of the prefecture's burden of hosting the U.S. bases, establishing a venue for discussions between the central and Okinawa prefectural governments is also worthy of consideration.
The Okinawa prefectural assembly is discussing a bill concerning a prefectural referendum that would call the Henoko relocation plan into question. Wouldn't such a move only inflame confrontation, thus splitting people in the prefecture? It must be judged carefully.
(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, Oct. 18, 2018)
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