NAHA, Japan - JapanÂ’s southern island chain of Okinawa Sunday elected an ally of conservative Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as governor, rejecting calls to scale back one of the US militaryÂ’s key overseas deployments. The election had turned into a referendum on the troops in the subtropical islands, which host three-quarters of the US military facilities in Japan, one of WashingtonÂ’s closest allies.
Voters backed Hirokazu Nakaima, who is supported by AbeÂ’s Liberal Democratic Party. He has said he will negotiate with the central government over the troop presence and avoid confrontation. With all the votes counted, Nakaima had 347,303 votes with challenger Keiko Itokazu, who had campaigned actively against the US troops, receiving 309,985 votes. A pro-independence candidate trailed in third place.
Nakaima focused his campaign on improving the economy of Okinawa, where unemployment runs twice the national average. He will replace retiring fellow conservative Keiichi Inamine.
Japan and the US agreed in May to pull out 8,000 troops from Okinawa to the US territory of Guam, in the most sweeping movement of soldiers in decades. But the United States began installing JapanÂ’s first Patriot surface-to-air missiles in Okinawa after North Korea test-fired seven missiles in July in JapanÂ’s direction.
Itokazu, who had hoped to become Okinawa’s first female governor, said she stood by her call for a greater pullout of US troops. ‘Considering the votes cast for me, I still believe the US bases are a significant issue that needs to be addressed,’ she said after her loss was reported. |