Wed Dec 26
TOKYO (AFP) - The mayor of a western Japanese city who fervently opposed a plan to host more US warplanes offered to resign Wednesday in a standoff with supporters of the military base.Iwakuni, 935 kilometres (580 miles) west of Tokyo, would become one of the biggest US air bases in Northeast Asia under a plan approved by the two countries to station 57 more US carrier-based warplanes there.Mayor Katsusuke Ihara submitted his resignation to the municipal council, which supports the US base, after a budgeting row linked to the deployment, a city hall spokesman said."I would like you to pass the budget bill in exchange for my resignation," Ihara told the assembly. The assembly later approved his resignation and Ihara was set to step down on Friday, Jiji Press reported.Iwakuni's budget has fallen short as the central government scrapped 3.5 billion yen (31 million dollars) in subsidies to the city because the mayor opposed the plan to host the additional aircraft.Ihara has instead proposed a special bond issue to make up for the shortfall. The assembly has rejected the plan, pressuring Ihara to give in to the central government's plans.In a 2006 non-binding referendum, an overwhelming majority of residents in Iwakuni voted against the plan to bring more warplanes to the city, which is already home to some 3,000 Marines.But the central government has since promised compensation in the form of funding to build new buildings in the city.Japan, which has been officially pacifist since World War II, relies on US troops under a security alliance.The government says the shift to Iwakuni would ease the burden on other communities hosting US forces, particularly in the southern Okinawa island chain, but local activists accuse US troops of causing noise and crime.Iwakuni is seen as strategically significant as it is one of the closest points in Japan to the Korean peninsula. The city is just 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
TOKYO (AFP) - The mayor of a western Japanese city who fervently opposed a plan to host more US warplanes offered to resign Wednesday in a standoff with supporters of the military base.Iwakuni, 935 kilometres (580 miles) west of Tokyo, would become one of the biggest US air bases in Northeast Asia under a plan approved by the two countries to station 57 more US carrier-based warplanes there.Mayor Katsusuke Ihara submitted his resignation to the municipal council, which supports the US base, after a budgeting row linked to the deployment, a city hall spokesman said."I would like you to pass the budget bill in exchange for my resignation," Ihara told the assembly. The assembly later approved his resignation and Ihara was set to step down on Friday, Jiji Press reported.Iwakuni's budget has fallen short as the central government scrapped 3.5 billion yen (31 million dollars) in subsidies to the city because the mayor opposed the plan to host the additional aircraft.Ihara has instead proposed a special bond issue to make up for the shortfall. The assembly has rejected the plan, pressuring Ihara to give in to the central government's plans.In a 2006 non-binding referendum, an overwhelming majority of residents in Iwakuni voted against the plan to bring more warplanes to the city, which is already home to some 3,000 Marines.But the central government has since promised compensation in the form of funding to build new buildings in the city.Japan, which has been officially pacifist since World War II, relies on US troops under a security alliance.The government says the shift to Iwakuni would ease the burden on other communities hosting US forces, particularly in the southern Okinawa island chain, but local activists accuse US troops of causing noise and crime.Iwakuni is seen as strategically significant as it is one of the closest points in Japan to the Korean peninsula. The city is just 800 kilometres (500 miles) from the North Korean capital Pyongyang.
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