An all-out confrontation between the national government and Okinawa Prefecture has entered a recess as they began "intensive" consultations to break the impasse over construction of a replacement base for U.S. Marine's Air Station Futenma, with the government suspending for a month its work to reclaim land off the Henoko district of Nago while the talks are going on.
The Abe administration should not use the occasion as a mere political gesture to ease the tension with Okinawa, but instead should listen sincerely to what the local administration of Gov. Takeshi Onaga has to say about the issue and explore possible ways to get out of the stalemate, which should include considering an alternative to building the new facility in Henoko.
The Okinawa Defense Bureau on Monday suspended seabed drilling off Henoko, which has been under way since August last year to set the stage for reclamation, through Sept. 9. Following the governor's meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo last week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga visited Onaga at the prefectural government office in Naha on Wednesday to kick off the talks.