The ruling Liberal Democratic Party's Okinawa chapter will state by month's end whether it will back the plan to replace U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma with another airstrip in the prefecture, the head of the chapter said Monday.
Masatoshi Onaga told reporters the Okinawa chapter was urged by LDP Secretary-General Shigeru Ishiba in a meeting to rethink its current opposition to replacing the Futenma base with a planned new airstrip also in Okinawa.
Ishiba, the LDP's No. 2 man, was quoted as telling Onaga at party headquarters in Tokyo that it was important to uphold the Japan-U.S. accord on Futenma's replacement in Nago. He warned that the base will stay in Ginowan if the chapter sticks to its position.