Endless Legal Struggle

As a result of one-month “concentrated” dialogue between national government and Okinawa, Ministry of Defense resumed construction process of new U.S. military base in Henoko district of Nago City, Okinawa. Governor of Okinawa, Takeshi Onaga, declared on Monday that he embarked on the process of dismissing permission of development in Henoko issued by former governor. Distance between Tokyo and Okinawa looks getting wider than ever.

Receiving criticisms on its attitude of listening no voice from Okinawa, Shinzo Abe administration set a dialogue with Onaga starting mid-August, which was closed with no effective conclusion. Okinawa Defense Bureau of MOD restarted setting no-entry zone in Oura Bay, where Henoko coastal area was included. After few weeks of preparation, the bureau will resume boring survey in the seabed of Henoko coast. It will finish the survey in the rest of five points out of twenty-four this fall and step into next stage of actual construction.

Okinawa firmly resisted against zero tolerance of Abe administration. “Right after expiration of concentrated dialogue period, the government restarted relocation effort. They does not regard sentiment of us at all,” told Susumu Inamine, Mayor of Nago city, to the press. “We will accordingly resume the effort on 12^th,” told an officer of MOD to a lawmaker elected from Okinawa, according to a report of Mainichi Shimbun.

As a countermeasure against unilateral decision of national government, Onaga started the process of dismissal of the permission. “We recognized failures in issuing permission,” told Onaga in his press conference on Monday. It is likely that the permission will be void in mid-October, after Okinawa prefectural government hears opinion from ODB for three weeks. Okinawa government regards the process as the biggest exercise of governor’s authority.

The national government is preparing for ordering Okinawa to dismiss its action. It is also likely that MOD will require Minister of Land, Transportation and Infrastructure judge and temporarily suspend Okinawa’s countermeasure. If both sides refuse giving in, one of them may indict another to the court. It will be an endless legal case between the central and a local government.

Extended opposition between Tokyo and Okinawa may send wrong message to foreign nations. U.S. government is worrying impacts of the problem on U.S. troops in Okinawa, while it keeps on supporting Japanese government. China must have closely been watching what is going on in Okinawa. If Japan fails in settling this problem, there will be a significant deterioration in deterrence in southeast islands of Japan.