TOKYO: The governor of Okinawa who has opposed a plan to relocate a US airbase on the southern Japanese island won reelection on Sunday, beating a more hard-line opponent of the base in a closely fought race. Tokyo and Washington agreed in May to implement a 2006 plan to shift the US Marines' Futenma airbase in Okinawa to a less crowded area on the island, which is host to about half the US troops in Japan. But the outlook for the plan is unclear after Prime Minister Naoto Kan's predecessor first raised and then dashed hopes for moving the base off Okinawa entirely, angering local residents who associate US bases with noise, pollution and crime. Hirokazu Nakaima's win over a rival who more firmly rejected the May plan could leave the door open for talks with the central government, but Kan still faces an uphill battle in statisfying Washington, which wants to keep the base on the island. Nakaima previously supported the 2006 plan but changed his stance after strong resistance by local residents. The governor would need to sign off on the construction of the new site. “There will effectively be no (relocation) on the island. It should be outside the island,” Kyodo news agency quoted Nakaima as saying after his victory was assured. The row over Futenma has threatened to undermine the 50-year-old US-Japan alliance, but both sides could put the issue on the back burner for now as they work together in responding to tensions in the region. Both Japan and the United States have condemned North Korea's deadly artillery attack on a South Korean island last week, while wariness over a rising China has also bolstered incentives to strengthen the alliance. Still, the festering row over Futenma remains a risk for Kan's public support, already eroded over his handling of recent diplomatic spats with China and Russia.
