Hiromu Nonaka, former secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, resigned Wednesday as chairman of the party's Okinawa Promotion Committee in protest over remarks made by a senior party executive on the relocation of a major U.S. base.
Nonaka tendered his resignation to LDP Secretary General Taku Yamasaki in the morning. Yamasaki said later he would try to persuade Nonaka to change his mind.
The move was sparked by remarks by Taro Aso, chief of the LDP Policy Research Council, who voiced opposition toward spending huge sums on a planned military-civilian airport that will serve as a replacement base for the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, central Okinawa.
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