Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiromu Nonaka said Thursday he has decided not to meet with Okinawa Gov. Masahide Ota, at least for the time being, because he cannot expect "constructive" discussion with the governor.
"I received Gov. Ota's request for a meeting," he said. "But I decided not to meet at this time ... as I heard that his purpose for the meeting was simply to make budgetary requests."
Earlier this week, Nonaka, also in charge of Okinawa affairs, expressed his willingness to meet with Ota, but only if the governor planned to bring up a new and constructive idea concerning the U.S. bases issue.
Dialogue between the central government and the Okinawa Prefectural Government over the realignment of U.S. bases has been stalled for months after Ota rejected the central government's plan to build a heliport offshore the northern Okinawa city of Nago.
The plan is a key part of an arrangement between Tokyo and Washington in 1996 to close Futenma Air Station in central Okinawa.
Speaking at a morning news conference Thursday, Nonaka said he has been and still is hoping to hear a constructive proposal from Okinawa to break the deadlock.
The governor is visiting Tokyo through today to press the central government for budgetary measures to promote Okinawa's economic development, which lags far behind that of the rest of Japan due mainly to the disproportionately large presence of U.S. bases there.