the governor nakaima says that it has been accidents caused by u.s. servicemen and he's calling on the japanese government to work to improve the situation. he warned that otherwise japan/u.s. ties would deteriorate. more than 70% of american military facilities in japan are based in okinawa. it's a foundation of the u.s./japan security alliance. without the support of the okinawan people the alliance itself wouldn't exist. >> now the u.s. military is in the process of realigning its forces in japan. what kind of impact could this case have an those plans? >> well, japan and the u.s. agreed to relocate the futenma base to another part of okinawa. but their plan has been met with fierce local opposition, and is years behind schedule. the relocation agreement came about because of another case of sexual assault back in 1995. three u.s. servicemen raped a 12-year-old girl. the incident enraged okinawans. as many as 100,000 people gathered to protest against the u.s. military presence. this latest case of sexual assault, along with the deployment of the o

nakaima expressed grave concern the matter would irreparably damage trust between okinawa and the u.s. military there. they say they take the matter seriously and are extremely concerned. >> translator: i wonder if u.s. servicemen are willing to abide by the law and it gives me chills just to think that such people actually fly military planes. people in okinawa are losing their trust. >> this case is coming at a time military presence in okinawa has hit another high. earlier gene otani spoke with nhk world's yoichiro tateiwa. >> fill us a little bit about this background to this alleged sexual assault. >> you follow the deployment of controversial military aircraft osprey to the futenma air station. locals are opposed to the decision to deploy osprey in okinawa. they worry about the aircraft flying over residential areas because it has poor safety the japane and the u.s. government fear that the incident could further stir up okinawans anger over u.s. bases. the governor naikama says there's been a spate of accidents and incidents caused by servicemen and he's calling on the japanese

in a separate move, okinawa governor hirokazu nakaima announced he will visit the united states sunday. he's aiming to meet with senior government officials to convey the anger of the okinawan people. >>> a joint chinese navy and air force fleet has conducted an exercise near a disputed group of islands in the east china sea. japan nationalized the senkaku islands last month. china and taiwan claim them as their own. 11 ships and eight aircraft from the navy, fishery administration, and marine surveillance agency took part in the exercise. the drill was based on the scenario that the crew of the patrol boat had fallen overboard and were injured during a skirmish with a foreign vessel. china's state run television station broadcast the exercise live. china's national radio says chinese patrol boats have been harassed by foreign ships around the disputed islands. it says the exercise was named at protecting china's territorial sovereignty and maritime interest through strengthening ties between the navy and other agencies. >>> european leaders have seen banks there crumble one after anot