Disarray surrounds plan to move Futenma base away from heavily populated area and take 8,000 marines and their families to Guam
A major realignment of US military forces in east Asia is in disarray after Tokyo and Washington agreed to drop a 2014 deadline for the relocation of a marine corps airbase on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa.
Under an agreement reached in 2006, Futenma base, which is in a heavily populated area, was to be moved to a coastal location further north, with 8,000 marines and their families being transferred to the US Pacific territory of Guam.
But the plan has been shrouded in uncertainty amid local opposition to the construction of the new base and the failure to find an alternative location elsewhere in Japan.
During security talks in Washington on Tuesday, the two sides said they hoped to complete the move "at the earliest possible date after 2014".
"It is critical that we move forward with the relocation of Futenma and the construction of facilities in Guam for the US marines," the US defence secretary, Robert Gates, said.
"Doing so will reduce the impact of our presence on local residents in Okinawa while allowing us to maintain capabilities critical to the alliance in Japan."
Japanese officials said they would attempt to win local support for replacing Futenma with a new facility in Nago, on Okinawa's northern coast.
Local leaders, however, want the base moved off the island altogether and voiced dismay that, despite the delay, the relocation plan remains intact.
Okinawa's governor, Hirokazu Nakaima, accused the countries' leaders of "ignoring" local concerns about the risk of accidents, as well as pollution, crime and the burden of hosting about half of the 47,000 US troops based in Japan.
"It is virtually impossible to deliver a relocation plan that can gain the acceptance of local people," he said.
Susumu Inamine, the mayor of Nago, accused Tokyo and Washington of indulging in "unacceptable intimidation" by delaying, but not ditching, the original plan.
Winning local support for the Futenma relocation – without which the US$10 billion (£6.2bn) troop transfer to Guam will not go head – appears all but impossible given the level of mistrust in Okinawa towards the government in Tokyo.
That relationship broke down last year when the then prime minister, Yukio Hatoyama, broke a campaign promise to take the base off Okinawa as part of an ill-fated attempt to reduce Japan's military dependence on the US.
The controversy forced Hatoyama's resignation after less than a year in office.
Significantly, several influential senators have also criticised the plan and called for Futenma to be merged with an existing US air force base on Okinawa.
A senate panel recently threatened to withhold funding for the transfer of troops to Guam unless the Pentagon made progress on the agreement.
Jim Webb, a Democrat, said the realignment should be approached "in a more realistic manner for the good of our alliance and for our strategic posture in east Asia".
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Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/22/okinawa-airbase-us-japan-delay-switch
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