China News Service, May 15 According to Japanese media reports, on the 15th, Okinawa ushered in the 49th anniversary of its return to Japan in 1972.
Although it was required to become a "peace island without a base" at the time of the return, about 70% of the facilities dedicated to the US military in Japan are still concentrated in Okinawa Prefecture.
Local residents held a rally in front of the U.S. military camp in Ruiqinglan to protest the overburden of the U.S. military base.
A woman in her 40s from Naha who participated in the rally said: "49 years have passed, and many US military bases have been imposed, which is unreasonable. It is not allowed to advance the construction of the ancient new base in the border field."
The routine activities on the day of returning to the mainland, such as the "peace parade", were again suspended due to the expansion of the new crown epidemic, and the number of participants in the rally was also limited to about 40 people.
The problem of the relocation of US military bases in Okinawa has a long history.
In spite of local opposition, the Japanese central government continued to advance the project to relocate the U.S. military's Futenma Airport to Bennoko, Nago City.
For a long time, U.S. troops stationed in Okinawa have seen frequent crimes, falling objects, and noise disturbances, and the people of Okinawa are unbearable.