Deadline on details of realignment plan won't be met

By David Allen
Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, March 30, 2006

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — Japanese officials Tuesday said a Friday deadline for hashing out details of a plan to realign U.S. troops in Japan will not be met.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe announced at about 4 p.m. Tuesday that a senior-level meeting, which had been set for Thursday in Washington, would be rescheduled, said Yu Kameoka, a spokesman for Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi.

He said Abe was contacting all involved parties Tuesday night.

Abe told reporters “schedules of representatives of both Japan and the United States” led to the change, the spokesman said.

When the realignment outline was released in October, the sides agreed details would be worked out by the end of March.

Tuesday’s announcement came a day after Abe announced that Kazuyoshi Umemoto, deputy chief of the Foreign Ministry’s North American Affairs Bureau, and Hironori Kanazawa, deputy chief of the Defense Agency’s Bureau of Defense Policy, were to meet in Washington with a team led by Richard Lawless, deputy undersecretary of Defense for Asia and Pacific Affairs.

Under the realignment plan, some 8,000 Marines would move from Okinawa to Guam and mainland Japan and most of the land used for U.S. bases south of Kadena Air Base would be returned.

But the move hinges on replacing Marine Corps Air Station Futenma with an airstrip to be built on Camp Schwab and reclaimed Oura Bay land. That plan has yet to win acceptance of any of the communities affected by the move. Another reported snag is Japan’s reluctance to fund most of the cost of moving the Marines to Guam.

U.S. officials say the move will cost $10 billion, mostly to build new facilities, including housing on Guam for the Marines and some 10,000 dependents. Japan has been asked to foot 75 percent of the bill — more than twice what it offered to cover, according to Japanese news reports.

“We still have to add up various costs along the way and I doubt if we can reach that stage,” Japan Foreign Minister Taro Aso told reporters Tuesday.

A recent Kyodo News poll released Monday showed 51.3 percent of the Japanese public opposes paying 75 percent, 37 percent favor paying a reduced amount and 14.3 percent oppose funding any part of the move.

Meanwhile, the death Monday of former Nago Mayor Tateo Kishimoto might delay negotiations between his protégé, Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, and Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga.

Camp Schwab is in Nago. Shimabukuro and Nukaga have been engaged in intense negotiations to make the plan more acceptable to Nago residents.

Shimabukuro has said he could support building the airport along Okinawa’s rural northeast coast if it was moved farther from local villages. He and Nukaga were to resume their talks on Wednesday but Nago officials said he might remain on Okinawa for services for the former mayor.

Okinawa tense as US military strategy review deadline nears

By David Pilling
Published: Mar 27, 2006

Why does a crowded community of just 90,000 people need three fire stations? The answer is that Ginowan City, on Japan's southernmost island of Okinawa, is split through the centre by a US Marine Corp air base that is off-limits to ordinary civilians.

To get to a blaze, firefighters have to drive around the horseshoe-shaped conurbation that hugs the base's perimeter fence, making triplication necessary to ensure they can reach fires on time.

"This land was taken from us by force in the 1950s at the point of a bayonet and with the might of a bulldozer," says Yoichi Iha, mayor of Ginowan City, referring to the expropriation of land by the US administration that ran Okinawa until 1972, when it was returned to Japan.

Since 2004, when a Marine Corp cargo helicopter slammed into an adjacent university, exploding in a fireball, Mr Iha's officials have spent much of their time peering through binoculars at helicopters flying in and out of the base. On the flat green roof of their building, in eight-foot high letters visible from the air, they have painted the brusque English message: "Don't fly over our city. US helicopters out now."

Ginowan may get its wish. As part of a huge shake-up of US troops stationed in Japan, officials will resume talks this week aimed at finalising plans to cut the 50,000-strong force and strengthen Japan's responsibilities for its own defence. After years of haggling over details, the plan is supposed to be finished by March 31.

A key element involves moving Futenma base to a safer location. As part of efforts to reduce the burden on Okinawa - a tiny island that hosts about half of all US troops - the 15,000 marines stationed on the tropical island will be halved. Some 8,000 marines will move to a new headquarters in the US territory of Guam.

The arrangement suits both sides. Paring numbers is part of the strategy laid out by Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, for a leaner force better suited to unpredictable post-cold war dangers. From the Japanese viewpoint, fewer US troops should help improve relations with Okinawa, whose people feel abused by politicians in distant Tokyo.

But negotiations have seen into constant hold-ups. One is over money. The US wants Japan to pay the bulk of the estimated $10bn cost of transferring marines to Guam. Japanese officials, who are cutting domestic spending willy-nilly, say it is hard to justify lavishing funds on housing and roads for soldiers living beyond its shores. They propose to lend the US some of the cash.

The second problem is more intractable. Although the total number of US troops stationed on Japan will be cut, the reshuffle means some local communities will face an added burden. This month, citizens in Iwakuni, in western Japan, voted overwhelmingly against expanding the nearby base. Although the referendum is not binding, it could spark similar expressions of local discontent throughout Japan.

The worst problem relates to Futenma. The US is determined to have another runway on Okinawa, which is strategically located close to potential flashpoints in Taiwan and Korea.

When Futenma goes, the idea is to have a replacement runway further north on Okinawa, on a beautiful ocean strip near Nago town. In spite of the potential economic benefits that come with hosting a US base, many local citizens oppose the runway construction, which they say will destroy the pristine coastline and bring noise and danger to Nago's inhabitants.

Mr Iha, Ginowan's mayor, while delighted at the prospect of Futenma vanishing from his backyard, says he supports protesters trying to keep its replacement out of Nago. "Of all the places in the world, why build another base on this small island?" he says.

Robyn Lim, professor of international relations at Nanzan university, says such protests fill a vacuum left by Japanese leaders, who have never fully articulated the strategic value of the US military presence. Nor, she says, have Japan's leaders had the strength to ram past local sentiment in the national interest.

"Few in Japan seem to understand how alliances work," she argues. "In return for the security benefits they supply for both parties, they entail risks and costs for both parties."

Squabbling over details could mean Japan and the US miss this month's deadline for a final settlement. But even if they hit it, nothing will be finalised until Tokyo has squared - or imposed - its decisions on reluctant local communities.

Japan, US split on military base relocation cost

Posted on: Friday, 24 March 2006, 06:36 CST
By Linda Sieg

TOKYO (Reuters) - Talks aimed at wrapping up a plan to reorganize the U.S. military in Japan ended without a deal on Friday and negotiators will meet in Washington next week to try to close the gaps by an end-of-March deadline, a U.S. source said.

Japan's foreign minister said the two sides were divided over how much Tokyo should pay toward moving 8,000 U.S. Marines to Guam from the island of Okinawa, a key part of a broader plan to reorganise the more than 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan.

"These are negotiations ... so it's natural that there is quite a gap," Foreign Minister Taro Aso told reporters.

Washington has proposed that Tokyo pay 75 percent of the estimated $10 billion it will cost to move the Marines to Guam, while Japan wants to reduce the bill and provide at least some of the funds in the form of loans because of its huge public debt.

On Friday, Japan presented an offer to provide $2.5 billion in loans to pay for the construction of housing for the families of U.S. military personnel, Kyodo news agency said.

Squabbling over the funding and opposition from Japanese communities worried about noise, crime and accidents associated with the U.S. bases have delayed finalizing details of the deal, which was agreed last October.

The March deadline was self-imposed but an extended delay could frustrate Washington, which is trying to transform its military globally into a more flexible force.

Talks earlier this week between Japanese defense officials and the mayor of Nago City on Okinawa failed to patch up domestic differences over the proposed relocation of the U.S. Marines' Futenma air base from a crowded part of the island to an area straddling another base and the Nago coast.

OKINAWA HURDLE

The Futenma relocation is a core element of the broader plan and a prerequisite for shifting the Marines to Guam.

"We want them (negotiators) to make efforts to reach an agreement by the end of March," Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told a news conference earlier in the day.

"On the other hand, we must explain sincerely to the local people," Abe added, in a sign an agreement might be delayed.

A stated goal of the realignment in Japan is to reduce tensions with communities that host U.S. bases.

Some experts predicted compromises could be found, both to settle the Futenma dilemma and the funding feud.

"I'm quite optimistic," said one Japanese military expert.

"The main reason is that politicians like (Defense Minister Fukushiro) Nukaga and (Prime Minister Junichiro) Koizumi are so determined to finish the job."

Resentment of the U.S. military presence runs especially deep in Okinawa, one of Japan's poorest prefectures and host to about half the U.S. military presence in Japan. The 1995 rape of a Japanese schoolgirl by three U.S. servicemen prompted huge demonstrations there and calls for the removal of the U.S. bases.

On Friday, an American employee of the U.S. Kadena Air Base on Okinawa was sentenced to nine years in prison for raping two women, a spokesman for the Naha District Court said.

Media reports described the man, Dag Thompson, 36, as an ex-Marine who had sold cars at the base and was arrested in 2004. U.S. military officials could not immediately comment.

JCP in Diet criticizes government for accepting unreasonable request for money to help relocate U.S. Marines to Guam

At the House of Councilors Budget Committee meeting on March 17, Japanese Communist Party representative Inoue Satoshi pointed out that the United States has increased its estimate for the cost of relocating part of the U.S. Marines contingent from Okinawa to Guam to over 1 trillion yen, three times the initial estimate, without giving any rationale behind the changes. He said that the government should reject the U.S. request for more money.

The U.S. Congress Overseas Basing Commission in May 2005 reported to the U.S. president that the transfer cost would be 342.2 billion yen, but in March this year, the Department of Defense stated that the cost would be over 1 trillion yen.

Pointing out that the United States is requesting Japan to pay for everything it wants, Inoue criticized the government for uncritically accepting the U.S. claim for burden sharing.

Inoue also asked about the report that the Japanese government has explained to the U.S. government that the estimated total cost Japan will pay for U.S. military realignment in Japan will be more than 3 trillion yen, including the construction cost of a new base near U.S. Camp Schwab in Okinawa.

Prime Minister Koizumi Jun'ichiro simply stated that the United States has its way of thinking," virtually admitting that the United States is requesting Japan to pay 75 percent of the total cost of 1 trillion yen.

Defense Agency Director General Nukaga Fukushiro replied, "I am not in a position to answer that question at this point because negotiations with the United States are still under way."

Inoue criticized the government for withholding the information from the Diet, even though it has explained it to the United States.

- Akahata, March 18, 2006

Japan, US Proceed With Military Bases Plan Despite Opposition

By Patrick Goodenough
CNSNews.com International Editor
March 13, 2006

(CNSNews.com) - Pentagon plans to realign the U.S. military presence abroad faced a new hiccup after residents of a Japanese city voted Sunday in a referendum against a plan to increase the number of American military planes and personnel deployed at a local base.

The proposal would raise the number of troops at the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station in the southwestern city of Iwakuni from 3,500 to around 5,100, and its component of 53 planes would be bolstered by an additional 57 aircraft, including fighters attached the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk.

City officials said 87 percent of those voting opposed the plan. Voter turnout was 58.6 percent, above the 50 percent threshold required for the plebiscite to be valid.

Although the vote was non-binding, Iwakuni Mayor Katsusuke Ihara said earlier he would ask Tokyo to scrap the plan if a majority opposed it. He and other critics oppose the plan because of concerns about accidents and noise.

The central government, which is reported to be concerned about the referendum sparking similar votes elsewhere in Japan, reacted to the poll result by saying it would continue working on getting support from the Iwakuni community.

"There is no change" to the redeployment plans, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said on Monday. Shinzo Abe, the chief cabinet secretary, told a press conference that the government understood most residents of the Iwakuni area who supported the plan had refrained from voting.

The U.S. is in Japan to help protect an important ally, but it also maintains forward-deployed forces there to deter and respond to security situations in the region not directly related to Japan.

Iwakuni's location is strategic as it lies closer to North Korea -- about 500 miles from Pyongyang -- than any other U.S. base in Asia apart from those in South Korea, where political sensitivities hamper American forces' freedom to operate outside that country.

Indeed, Iwakuni was first used by U.S. forces in 1950 as a springboard for operations during the Korean War.

The extra planes and personnel earmarked for Iwakuni are to transfer from a base near Tokyo as part of a complex realignment plan agreed upon by the two governments last October. Schedules for implementing the changes are meant to be finalized by the two sides by the end of this month.

The realignment plan in Japan is in line with the Pentagon's global review of force posture aimed at equipping the military to better face challenges such as terrorism and proliferation threats.

The main impact will be the return home of 50,000 troops from Europe, where the presence of 100,000 personnel is widely seen as superfluous in the post-Cold War era.

In the two major East Asian allies, Japan and South Korea, the plan's main focus is on consolidating command structures, streamlining deployments, and improving capabilities to respond to new threats.

At the same time, the U.S., South Korea and Japan are seeking to ease local disquiet about the presence of American forces.

This is being done primarily by moving a military headquarters out of central Seoul, and restructuring bases in Okinawa, the southern Japanese island where the majority of the 45,000 U.S. personnel in Japan are located.

Last weekend, tens of thousands of Okinawans rallied against a plan to move a Marine base there to a new location elsewhere on Okinawa.

The aim is to move the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station from its current setting near the congested center of the island to a quieter location in the northeast, but opponents of the plan want the base relocated from Okinawa completely.

The U.S. also is planning to return three other facilities on Okinawa to the Japanese government.

And, in the most far-reaching change for Japan, the Pentagon also intends to transfer up to 8,000 Marines -- half of the total number on Okinawa -- to Guam, an island 1,400 miles further east that is set to become far more important as a staging point for U.S. forces in the Pacific.

Guam is a U.S. territory, and so is not hampered by the local sensitivities present in Okinawa, or by the restrictions South Korea's liberal government wants to place on what the Pentagon calls "strategic flexibility" - the ability to dispatch forces based there in the event of crises elsewhere in the region, such as the Taiwan Strait.

U.S. eyes 'trilateral' military cooperation with Japan, S. Korea

Kyodo News

The United States plans to set up a ''trilateral military cooperation'' with Japan and South Korea to deal not only with North Korea but also with China and terrorist threats in Asia, U.S. Pacific Command Commander Adm. William Fallon said Tuesday.

Testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Fallon said the United States has been working to transform its bilateral defense alliances with the two nations to deal with regional and global issues and develop them into a stronger trilateral initiative.

''We also hope to foster greater trilateral cooperation between the ROK (Republic of Korea), Japan and the United States,'' Fallon said in a written statement.

Fallon did not spell out the details of the trilateral cooperation. But referring to the ongoing realignment of bilateral military alliances with the two nations, Fallon indicated the U.S. military wants the three countries to jointly deal with China's increasing military power, North Korea's possible collapse and reunification of the two Koreas, unconventional regional threats such as terrorism risks in Southeast Asia, and other regional matters.

The three nations have been promoting working-level defense consultations, but the talks have largely been limited to exchanging views on North Korea.

But uncertainties remain because the trilateral process as well as bilateral defense talks between Japan and South Korea have occasionally stalled due to lingering territorial and history-related disputes between Tokyo and Seoul stemming from Japan's aggression during and before World War II.

Defense experts said Washington wants to keep Japan and South Korea on its side against China, especially hoping to prevent Seoul from leaning toward Beijing due to their similar disputes with Japan and their common reconciliatory interests over North Korea.

Fallon's remarks came after the U.S. Defense Department issued its Quadrennial Defense Review last month, which singled out China as having the ''greatest'' potential to militarily compete with the United States among emerging and major powers.

In the QDR, which set the defense strategy and military posture for the next 20 years, the Pentagon called for ''greater'' military presence in the Pacific Ocean and vowed to boost military integration with allies to deter against emerging and major powers and ''complicate any adversary's efforts to decouple them.''

The integration includes intelligence sensors, communications networks, information systems, missile defenses, undersea warfare and counter-mine warfare capabilities.

Japan and the United States agreed last October to step up integration and joint operations between Japanese Self-Defense Forces and U.S. forces as part of their broad accord on realignment of the U.S. military presence in Japan.

The two nations are set to compile implementation plans by the end of March for the realignment accord.

''We are conducting a U.S.-Japan interoperability study, exploring ways to improve how our forces coordinate a wide range of operations,'' Fallon said, noting that they are also jointly developing a missile defense system.

Fallon said Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi has demonstrated ''exceptional leadership'' in guiding the SDF through ''significant change'' such as sending ground troops to Iraq and refueling vessels to the Indian Ocean to help the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in Afghanistan.

''These actions clearly show the willingness and capability of the government of Japan to deploy the SDF regionally and globally in support of security and humanitarian operations,'' Fallon said.

Meanwhile, Seoul and Washington agreed earlier this year on ''strategic flexibility'' of U.S. armed forces in South Korea, paving the way for U.S. forces there to engage in missions outside the Korean Peninsula.

But the accord led to controversy in South Korea as it may lead the nation to get involved in regional conflicts that the United States could be engaged in such as a possible contingency in Taiwan.

Fallon said, ''We welcome Korea's adoption of a more regional view of security and stability.''

The two nations ''must remain adaptable in light of the changing security environment, including unconventional threats, China's military modernization, and the potential for reconciliation between the Koreas,'' he said.

Kyodo News

35,000 rally in Ginowan against Futemma base relocation plan

GINOWAN, Japan, March 5 Kyodo [2006]

Tens of thousands of protesters gathered Sunday in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to rally against a relocation plan for the U.S. Marine Corps Futemma Air Station and envisioned legislation that would allow Tokyo to override the Okinawa governor's authority regarding landfills for the project.

Holding placards and banners demanding the immediate closure of Futemma and its relocation outside of Okinawa, about 35,000 people took part in the two-hour rally organized by opposition parties represented in the Okinawa prefectural assembly, labor unions and grassroots groups, according to the organizers' estimate.

Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine and assembly members of the ruling coalition did not attend.

''If the U.S. Marines troops at Futemma are included in the 8,000 troops the two governments have agreed to move out of Okinawa, there is no need at all to build a new facility in Henoko,'' House of Councillors lawmaker Masahide Ota said in addressing the crowd.

''If the foreign minister and the Defense Agency director general think the Japan-U.S. security alliance is necessary, they should bring the bases to their own places,'' the former Okinawa governor said.

Ginowan Mayor Yoichi Iha said, ''The city of Ginowan strongly demands that Futemma, the world's most dangerous base, be shut down immediately and relocated outside of Japan.''

The Futemma base sits in the center of downtown Ginowan and occupies 25 percent of the city's land. Locals have long complained of noise and safety concerns, and their anger was further agitated by the crash of a U.S. military helicopter at a university campus near the base in August 2004.

Despite calls for relocating Futemma outside of Okinawa, Japan and the United States agreed last October on a revised plan to build a new airfield on the shores of the U.S. Marines' Camp Schwab in Nago, also in Okinawa, to relocate Futemma's heliport functions.

''This is absolutely unforgivable,'' said Toshio Ikemiyagi, a 66-year-old resident of Naha, Okinawa's prefectural capital. ''For how much longer is the government trying to use Okinawa as a hostage put on sale to the United States?''

Given that the initial offshore plan in Nago has been stalled for 10 years, Tokyo is eyeing a special law that would transfer to the central government the Okinawa governor's authority to grant permission for landfills in the area, in order to ensure that the new plan will not be hampered by local opposition this time.

''I think it's ridiculous that Prime Minister (Junichiro) Koizumi and U.S. President (George W.) Bush are trying to make Okinawa the depot for U.S. forces to expand war,'' said 20-year-old Hidekazu Furuuchi, a Tohoku University student who traveled all the way from Sendai in northeastern Japan to Okinawa for the rally. ''The government is ignoring the Okinawa people's opposition and I cannot allow that.''

Ginowan and other municipal governments to be affected by the October agreement, which also includes other realignment plans for U.S. forces in Japan, are also upset that Tokyo struck the accord with Washington without prior consultation with them.

Meanwhile, rally participant Kaoru Takahashi said she was disappointed that Gov. Inamine did not show up for the event and that she is concerned that the governor would in the end kowtow to the central government and agree with Tokyo's plans.

''I can't trust the governor and local politicians who didn't show up at the rally,'' said Takahashi, dressed in the costume of a seal in protest against expected environmental pollution in the waters where the new airfield will be built.

In concluding the rally, the participants adopted a resolution demanding that the Japanese government respect local opinions against the relocation and realignment plans.

Japan and the United States aim to finalize the realignment details by the end of this month, but Tokyo has yet to succeed in convincing the local authorities to accept the plans. [*493*]

U.S. House Guam delegate urges Japan to fund 75% of relocation cost

(Kyodo) _ U.S. House of Representatives Delegate Madeleine Bordallo from Guam urged Japan on Friday to fund 75 percent of the cost of relocating U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam, calling it a "necessity" amid the tight U.S. budget.

In a statement, Bordallo also said she understands that the actual number of Marines to be relocated will be closer to 8,000, instead of 7,000 earlier agreed on between the two nations.

Her comments confirmed recent news reports that the United States has offered to increase the number by 1,000 during ongoing negotiations for crafting implementation plans by March of a broad agreement reached in October on realigning the U.S. military presence in Japan.

The October accord highlighted the removal of 7,000 Marines from Okinawa -- 6,000 to Guam and 1,000 elsewhere in Japan.

"Negotiations between the Japanese and the United States have been substantive," Bordallo said, noting that she has recently met with senior U.S. defense officials to receive updates on the negotiations.

The two nations are scheduled to resume their senior working-level meeting in Honolulu next week.

"However, it is clear that cost-sharing is a critical issue that must be resolved. For this move to happen on the right timeline, within six to eight years, a Japanese commitment to fund 75 percent of the relocation costs is a necessity," Bordallo said.

"The strained U.S. budget will not be able to accommodate this move without the targeted level of Japanese cost sharing," she said.

Bordallo did not give any cost estimates for building Marine headquarters, training sites, housing and other facilities in Guam for the relocation, merely referring to news repots of a $8 billion estimate tabled by the United States.

Various cost figures have hit the headlines, ranging from $3 billion to $9 billion, as being presented by the United States during the negotiations.

But behind the scenes, the Marine Corps has reportedly come up with a more a realistic estimate of around $6 billion through its preliminary studies, with the United States hoping Japan will cover up to 60 percent.

Meanwhile, the Japanese government is planning to propose lending money to the United States to cover part of the construction cost in Guam.

Bordallo said, "There came be little doubt that we are at an important juncture as the United States and Japanese negotiators approach the mutually agreed upon deadline for final agreement."

"From my viewpoint, we are at a crossroads," she said. "The whole plan to move Marines to Guam will not come to fruition if these negotiations fail."

But she noted, "I remain optimistic that because of the importance of this realignment to Japanese and to American society that the outcomes will be positive."