Okinawa Gov. Takeshi Onaga has met with U.S. officials based in the prefecture, apparently seeking to arrange a meeting with U.S. Ambassador Caroline Kennedy as well as with senior officials in Washington.
Onaga held talks Tuesday with Alfred Magleby, U.S. consul general in Naha, and Lt. Gen. John Wissler, commander of U.S. military forces stationed in Okinawa, at the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Courtney in Uruma, the consulate general and senior prefectural officials said.
Onaga wants to visit the United States as early as possible to tell Defense and State department officials of his opposition to moving the Futenma air station to another site within the prefecture.
Okinawa officials said preparations are underway for talks between Onaga and Kennedy.
Onaga was elected governor in November on a pledge to block building the Futenma replacement base in Henoko on the coast of Nago. He is now locked in a dispute with the central government that is pushing the transfer in line with a bilateral accord.
In a related move, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida told Ginowan Mayor Atsushi Sakima in Tokyo on Tuesday that the government intends to proceed with the plan.
He cited the risks to Ginowan residents of keeping the Futenma base there. "To remove the danger is of the utmost importance," Kishida said.
Sakima handed a document to Kishida calling for the swift closure of Futenma and the return of the land it occupies in a densely populated district in Ginowan.
