Ryukyu Shimpo front-paged a speculative piece saying that Okinawa Governor Onaga is set to present alternatives to the existing plan to build a Futenma replacement facility off Camp Schwab when he visits the U.S. in March in order to convince Washington that U.S. deterrence can be maintained even without building a new base in the Henoko area. The prefectural government will draw up specific suggestions such as moving the Okinawa Marines to Kyushu and relocating a “rendezvous point” for Marine personnel and amphibious landing ships outside of Okinawa, while taking into account the various proposals that have already been made by private-sector experts.

Pointing out that the governor has long insisted that his government should not be held accountable for coming up with alternative plans for the closure of MCAS Futenma, the daily said in a separate article that this new approach reflects the governor’s frustration at not being able to stop the ongoing landfill work for FRF construction off Camp Schwab. The paper added that Onaga’s task force will be hard pressed to come up with viable options since even some of the analysts who argue against the FRF construction advocate relocating the Futenma functions to other military installations in Okinawa.