TOKYO -- The governor of Okinawa ordered the suspension of work on a new U.S. military airfield Monday, escalating a confrontation with the central government. Officials in Tokyo said they would ignore his order and continue preparations for the project.
Construction of the airfield at Camp Schwab, a Marine Corps base near the village of Henoko, has been delayed for years by local opposition. Among other issues, parts of the two planned runways would jut into the coral-filled waters of Oura Bay.
Protesters outside the camp appeared in television news reports Monday cheering the suspension order.
The governor, Takeshi Onaga, gave those in charge of the project one week to halt a maritime geological survey for the base planned by the Japanese Defense Ministry. He threatened to revoke a marine drilling permit if the deadline is missed and said it would be illegal to continue the survey work beyond that time period.
"I have made up my mind," Onaga said in Naha, the capital of Okinawa. "If it comes to it, I will proceed earnestly."
The United States has had an extensive military presence on the island since 1945, including an airfield at Futenma that has become surrounded by dense residential developments. The United States and Japan agreed in 1996 to relocate the base, but to the frustration of officials in Washington, local frictions about environmental and other concerns have caused repeated delays and changes of plan.
Onaga won a landslide election victory in November on a promise of blocking the expansion of Camp Schwab to accommodate the airfield. He and his supporters want the Marines moved off the island altogether. About half of the nearly 50,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan are on Okinawa, which Onaga and his supporters say imposes a burden on the island.
On the other side of the debate is Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a conservative who has sought to strengthen Japan's security ties with the United States. Abe has shown more willingness to press ahead with the base relocation, despite Okinawan objections, than had his recent predecessors.
Protests are held regularly outside the gates of Camp Schwab, and while they have remained peaceful, they have grown larger and more rowdy in recent months. One last month attracted at least 2,000 people, according to a count by the Okinawan newspaper Ryukyu Shimpo, and three protesters were detained.
Officials in Tokyo disputed Onaga's authority to revoke the drilling permit, which was issued by the previous governor. The chief cabinet secretary, Yoshihide Suga, called Onaga's order "extremely regrettable" and said the survey work would go on.
"There is absolutely no change to our plans to continue earnestly, in compliance with the law," Suga said.
Onaga said he believed that the Defense Ministry surveyors were drilling in areas of the seabed that are not covered by the permit, and that he would consider court action if the work were to continue after the permit was revoked.
A Section on 03/24/2015