U.S. says Futenma switch is possible

The Asahi Shimbun

Washington has signaled it is willing to consider an alternative site for the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma because of slow progress in relocating heliport functions to an offshore area near Henoko in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.

The offer comes with a catch, though. Tokyo must offer another location within Japan.

Although Japan and the United States agreed in April 1996 to relocate the Futenma facility's functions to Henoko, U.S. officials have expressed frustration at the lack of progress in moving the project beyond the study stage.

The government has already begun considering an alternative to Henoko for the Futenma functions, sources said Thursday in Tokyo.

U.S. frustration stems partly from the fact that another decade may be required before construction of the Henoko facility is completed. In the meantime, the danger to local residents in Okinawa will remain, forcing Japanese officials to consider another site.

Okinawa residents are clamoring for the removal of the U.S. Marines from Futenma as soon as possible, in part because of concerns raised by a helicopter crash last summer on a university campus bordering the Futenma facility.

Although there were no casualties, the accident drove home to residents the apparent dangers of living next door to a U.S. military base.

The agreement between Japan and the United States stipulated that the land on which Futenma is situated would be returned to Okinawa in five to seven years.

No progress has been made on that front, either.

Officials in Washington informed visiting Japanese politicians Wednesday that they were willing to consider alternative locations for the Futenma functions if Tokyo came up with a new proposal.

Fukushiro Nukaga, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party's Research Commission on Security and a former director-general of the Defense Agency, met Wednesday with Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Lawless, U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense for Asian and Pacific affairs.

In the meeting, Lawless indicated the importance of coming up with an alternative site for the Futenma functions.

He also said it would be important to compile a new joint declaration on the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty and new guidelines on cooperation in defense matters when the two nations finally agree on the transformation of U.S. military troops in Japan.

One condition for accepting a new site is that it must allow for the maintenance of the military functions and capabilities now based at Futenma.

It remained unclear whether Japanese officials would come up with another site.

The government has stuck to the Henoko plan because of concerns that selecting an alternative would involve another convoluted process of gaining the cooperation and approval of the municipal government that would be the new host and its nearby residents.

In past informal talks, alternatives to Henoko that have been eyed include an airstrip on the tiny isle of Shimoji, about 300 kilometers from the main Okinawa island.

Another idea was to consolidate functions at the Kadena Air Base, also in Okinawa Prefecture.(IHT/Asahi: February 25,2005)

Okinawan officials report lobbying efforts greetly warmly in Washingtonsta

By David Allen and Chiyomi Sumida
Stars and Stripes Pacific edition
Wednesday, February 9, 2005

OKINAWA CITY — Washington is warming to Okinawan demands to close Futenma Marine Corps Air Station and abandon plans to build a replacement airport off the island’s northeast coast, Okinawa officials returning from a U.S. lobbying trip said Sunday.

“I could feel that the ambient air in Washington was much warmer,” Okinawan Mitsuko Tomon of Japan’s House of Representatives said here Sunday.

Tomon visited Washington last week with Keiko Itokazu, a House of Councilors member, five Okinawa prefectural assembly members and a Nago City council member. During their three-day visit, they met senior officials from the State and Defense departments, lawmakers and international strategy and security experts at Washington-based think tanks.

Photo: Mitsuko Tomon, a member of Japan’s House of Representatives from Okinawa, says she received a warm welcome from U.S. officials during a recent lobbying trip to Washington, D.C.

The reception was far more favorable than expected, said Tomon, who once taught Japanese language and culture at Kubasaki High School on Camp Foster. She mentioned especially what she called words of support from Kurt Campbell, a former deputy assistant secretary of defense now with the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

“The first words from him were that there would be big changes” in the military on Okinawa “within several months,” Tomon said. “He said that the wishes of Okinawans [are] beginning to reach the people in Washington.”

Officials in Washington also characterized the session as cordial.

The talks are “part of the Defense Policy Review Initiative,” said Navy Cmdr. Greg Hicks, a Pentagon spokesman. The Japanese officials met with “the DOD-Japan policy team, who answer to Richard Lawless, the deputy undersecretary (of Defense) for Asian and Pacific Affairs.”

“It’s an exchange of views to address our mutual concerns and [review] security initiatives,” he said.

Crediting the Aug. 13 crash of a Marine helicopter from Futenma into adjacent Okinawa International University, she said, “Now everybody shares the common understanding that the air station is dangerous. On past lobbying visits, the dominant atmosphere was rather cold and we were often told that we should be going to Tokyo, not Washington.”

The Okinawa officials are demanding the United States cut its troop presence on Okinawa, particularly the some 17,000 Marines of the III Marine Expeditionary Force. They want immediate closure of Futenma and abandonment of the new air station planned for Henoko, to take Futenma’s place.

In 1996, the U.S. and Japan agreed to close Futenma once an alternate Marine air operations site was found. In 2002, plans were approved to build an airport on reclaimed land about two miles offshore but connected to the Marines’ Camp Schwab. But environmental and anti-base opposition has prompted Japanese officials to estimate completing the base, to be used jointly by civilian aircraft, will take another 10 years.

Last week Kyodo News reported that the delegation also met with Pentagon officials, who reportedly expressed frustration with the delay in relocating Futenma.

Tomon said, “Campbell said that changes would definitely happen in connection to … closure of Futenma and the Henoko project.” In a Monday phone interview, Tomon said Patrick Cronin, CSIS vice president, reported that in recent Tokyo talks with Japanese officials, Okinawa was the dominant topic. “He told us that by August, we will see changes in the circumstances surrounding the air station and Henoko project.”

Tomon, also a former deputy governor of Okinawa, said she was excited to see Japanese media reports, all citing unnamed Japanese officials, that Futenma would be a major topic at Feb. 19 talks in Washington on realigning U.S. troops in Japan.

Hatsuhisa Takashima, a high-ranking Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, would not confirm the meeting would be Feb. 19. “We are targeting (a) February and March time frame,” he said Monday. “However, the schedule is yet to be set.” He also denied media reports concerning a Henoko project review.

Earlier this month, a spokesman for Marines on Okinawa said the service welcomes “the free exchange of opinions about U.S. forces on Okinawa.” Capt. Joseph Plenzler of the Marines’ Consolidated Public Affairs Office said Marines support relocating Marine air operations to an alternate site away from populated areas.

Stripes editor Pat Dickson contributed to this report. [1427]