Communist Party leader demands removal of US base

April 21, 2010

The head of Japan's opposition Communist Party, Kazuo Shii, has asked the US Ambassador to Japan, John Roos, to unconditionally move the US Marine Futenma Air Station out of Japan.

Shii met Roos at the US Embassy in Tokyo on Wednesday in the first official meeting between a Japanese Communist Party chairman and a US ambassador to Japan.

Shii told Roos that the people of Okinawa are furious, and that there is no hope of having the air station accepted, either elsewhere in the prefecture or anywhere in Japan.

He said the only solution is an unconditional removal of the facility out of the country.

Roos responded that the US attaches importance to the bilateral security pact, and believes the existing agreement to relocate the base from Ginowan City to Nago City is the best plan possible.

The ambassador said he has a different view on the solution offered by Shii, but that he is aware of the need to reduce the negative impact of US bases in Japan.

2010/04/21 16:21(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)