TOKYO, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Conflicts were reignited between Japanese central government and Okinawa Prefecture, as the former sought to push ahead a widely-opposed U.S. air base relocation plan by filing a fresh lawsuit on Friday, while resuming construction of helipads for U.S. military in the prefecture despite strong local opposition.
The Japanese government filed a fresh lawsuit against Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga with the Naha branch of the Fukuoka High Court on Friday, seeking the court's confirmation that Onaga acted illegally in not complying with a state order to retract his revocation of former governor's permission for the landfill work of the Futenma air base relocation.
The lawsuit will reopen a legal battle between the central and prefectural governments, which was first ignited last year when the two governments sued each other over the issue, and was halted in March when a settlement deal was reached under court mediation.
According to the March settlement, the construction work related to the relocation was halted, while the central and prefectural governments held talks and awaited a ruling to be made by an arbitration panel under the internal affairs ministry.
However, the arbitration panel failed to reach a conclusion in June and only urged the two sides to hold more "sincere discussions."
During a negotiation meeting attended by the two sides Thursday, Okinawa indicated that it would not file a fresh lawsuit, while the central government said it would take the issue to court again, in an apparent effort to push forward the relocation work.
The central government's top spokesman Yoshihide Suga said Friday that the government is fulfilling its obligations under the terms of the March settlement by proceeding with the lawsuit.
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