TOKYO, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Okinawa Governor Denny Tamaki on Wednesday failed to bridge their differences on a contentious plan to relocate a U.S. military base within Japans southernmost prefecture of Okinawa.
The central and local Okinawa governments have long been at odds over the planned relocation of the the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to the less populated coastal district of Henoko in Nago, also in Okinawa.
Tamaki said he told the prime minister that the people of Okinawa are resolutely opposed to the base's relocation within the prefecture, but Abe, for his part, maintained that the relocation of the base to Henoko remained the only solution under a bilateral pact made with the United States in 1996.
Tamaki told a press briefing after the meeting at Abes office that he had implored the central government to stop the construction work necessary for the base by "seriously taking into account the public opinion manifested in the result of the Okinawa gubernatorial election."
Tamaki became Okinawa governor on Oct. 4 following the death of his predecessor Governor Takeshi Onaga who had been urging the central government to reduce Okinawas disproportionate base-hosting burdens.
Due to the impasse, Okinawa will now likely file a protest with the Central and Local Government Dispute Management Council under the auspices of Japans Internal Affairs Ministry.
The council is set up to adjudicate disputes between the central and local governments.
Before the talks between Abe and Tamaki, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kazuhiro Sugita and Okinawa's Vice Governor Kiichiro Jahana held their fourth and final meeting on Wednesday, but they failed to find any consensus on the long-running issue.
Amid growing anti-U.S. sentiment on the tiny subtropical island and following Tamaki being elected as governor in September's gubernatorial election on a platform of opposing the bases relocation and lessening Okinawas base-hosting burdens, Tamaki has been pushing to resolve the issue through dialogue with the central government.
