Demos as Japan resumes US base expansion
The Japanese government has resumed the controversial expansion of a US base on the Okinawa Island in a move that is set to trigger more and more protests by residents.
At the heart of tensions is the central government’s row with the islanders over the planned relocation of the Futenma base to the Henoko area north of the island.
On Thursday, police dragged away protesters as the government began landfill work in Henoko to prepare the site for the move, a day after overriding Okinawa governor’s order to stop operations.
Some 100 local residents, mainly elderly people, gathered outside the site to stop trucks and bulldozers from getting inside the construction area.
Okinawa is a focal point of the US military presence in Asia amid deepening rivalry with China.
Local residents are fiercely opposed to the base, as a series of sexual assaults by US troops from the base has sparked violent protests and anger. Many offending soldiers have received either no or very light punishments.
American troops were reportedly involved in over 1,000 sex crimes between 2005 and 2013 in Japan.
The row over the relocation has dragged on for nearly two decades, putting successive Japanese governments between a rock and a hard place as they have struggled to satisfy the US and keep local anger in check at the same time.
Under a 1996 agreement with Washington, the Tokyo government must move the Futenma airbase, which is located in a residential area. Local residents say the base should be closed down on the island instead of being replaced.
Earlier this month, Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga revoked the approval issued by his predecessors for work on the new base but Tokyo rejected it and said the plan should continue as scheduled.
The US has had a military presence in Japan since the end of World War II. Okinawa hosts about half the roughly 50,000 US troops in Japan, the biggest deployment of American forces outside the home front.
The base also invokes memories of Japan’s defeat in the war, marked by the world’s first atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US.
Malaysian PM calls on Muslim states to remain 'firm' in bringing Israel to justice
KFC shutters 100 restaurants in Malaysia over pro-Palestine boycott
Australia ‘s Jewish Council warns against labeling pro-Palestine demos ‘anti-Semitic’
VIDEO | Turkey joins NATO wargames as US pressure strains ties with Russia
Press TV's news headline
VIDEO | General cancer diagnosis tool
VIDEO | 200 days of lies
Israel ‘deliberately militarizes’ civilian facilities in Gaza: Rights group
Iraqi fighters strike ‘vital’ Israeli target in Syria’s occupied Golan
VIDEO | Plight of Palestinians
VIDEO | Self-Driving Robot
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
