Plans to build a Self-Defense Forces training camp in Okinawa were called for reconsideration by Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki during a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara, the Asahi Shimbun reported on February 18. .
“We cannot accept this project. We want the government to put the plan back on the drawing board and revise it.” – said the Okinawan chief.
Thus, this meeting with Kihara became the first public disagreement of an Okinawan representative with Tokyo’s position.
Meanwhile, according to Tokyo’s plans, the 15th Ground Forces Brigade in Naha, which has about 2,000 people, will be reorganized into a division. To conduct the exercises needed for the expanded division, a new training camp will be needed in Uruma (Okinawa Prefecture), which has become the subject of new disputes between the Ministry of Defense and residents of Japan’s most militarized region.
At the same time, Minoru Kihara emphasizes the need for a new base as part of the accelerated militarization of Japan carried out by the Kishida government. “Faced with the most serious and challenging security situation that Japan has faced since World War II…”
Please note that the location of the proposed base is adjacent to a residential area. According to Tamaki, “Anxiety among many prefecture residents is growing rather than declining.”.
Not only Tamaki, but also the mayor of Uruma, Masato Nakamura, shows a stubborn reluctance to be the number one military target in a potential conflict with China: “We want the central government to take the voices of local people seriously and look at this issue carefully.”
Let us remember that Tamaki and Kihara also share diametric positions on the project to move the US Marine Corps air base in Futenma from Ginowan to Nago. Overall, Tamaki has consistently called for the burden on American bases in his prefecture to be eased.
Source: Rossa Primavera
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