Anger flares during Okinawa ceremony over US military presence
Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been heckled by angry locals during a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa.
Abe was openly jeered as he took the podium in the memorial ceremony on Tuesday as shouts of “Go home!” could be heard from angry locals, furious at the US military’s continued presence on the Okinawa subtropical islands.
The Japanese premier told the audience that his country had for decades enjoyed peace after the World War II.
“People in Okinawa have long been asked to carry a big burden for our security,” the prime minister said. “We will continue to do our best to reduce (it).”
About 5,000 people attended the memorial in Itoman, at the southern tip of Okinawa on Tuesday to mark the Battle of Okinawa.
Thousands of visitors filed past black marble monuments inscribed with the names of the victims to pray and lay flowers to commemorate the 100,000 Okinawans and 80,000 Japanese troops who died in the battle for the strategically located island chain in 1945.
The anniversary comes as Okinawans are angry over a US decision to move an airbase on the island from a crowded urban area to the coast, with many wanting it to be relocated to somewhere else altogether.
Resentment against the US in Okinawa further deepened with the rape of a schoolgirl by three US servicemen in 1995, which triggered mass rallies across Japan.
Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture is home to about 26,000 US troops.
AR/GHN/HJL
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