Thousands Rally to Remove U.S. Military Base From Okinawa

Protesters stage a sit-in to block construction vehicles working on the expansion of Camp Schwab, a U.S. military base, on May 31 in Nago, Okinawa, Japan. (Carl Court/Getty Images)

 

The latest deterioration of a fading trans-Pacific alliance

Some 70,000 protesters rallied in Okinawa, Japan, on August 11 against the planned relocation of a United States military base. Rather than see U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma moved from a heavily populated part of the island to the remote Henoko Bay, the protesters want it to be removed from the island entirely.