Protesters against the relocation of US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, stage a rally in front of Camp Schwab, an American base near a planned relocation site, in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, Japan, on Monday. — AP
TOKYO — A clash between Japan's central government and Okinawa island, host to the bulk of US troops in Japan, deepened on Monday when the southern island's governor ordered a halt to underwater work at the site of a planned relocation of a US Marine base. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's government and Okinawa have been on a collision course since anti-base conservative Takeshi Onaga was elected governor last November and ruling party candidates were trounced in a December general election. Onaga told a news conference that he was ordering local defense ministry officials to halt the underwater survey work, which the prefecture fears is harming local coral reefs, a prefecture official said. If those activities are not stopped within a week, Onaga may rescind approval for drilling operations given by his predecessor in December 2012, he said. Delays to the plan to move the Futenma base to a less populous area of northern Okinawa could be a headache for Abe ahead of an April 26-May 3 visit to the United States, announced on Monday. A summit with President Barack Obama is expected to highlight Washington's approval of Abe's more muscular security policy amid concerns about rising Chinese influence in the region. — Reuters
