THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/07/30
A decision on the construction method, design and location of the new U.S. Marine Corps airfield to be built off Henoko in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, will be delayed, according to Japanese government sources.
When Japan and the United States agreed in late May to move the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, also in Okinawa, to Nago, officials said the details of the new airstrip would be decided by the end of August.
But, with two key local elections slated for autumn and fierce local opposition, Washington appears to have acceded to Tokyo's plan to delay announcing specifics of the airfield.
The sources said they were likely to list more than one alternative for the location and number of runways at the new base. The Japanese side is thought to want to avoid even announcing those alternatives in August.
A Nago city assembly election will be held in September, to be followed by the Okinawa prefectural gubernatorial race in November.
"(Drafting) multiple plans will do for the United States," said a senior Foreign Ministry official on Wednesday.
A high-ranking official of the prime minister's office agreed: "The United States has a certain understanding. It would not go ahead forcibly."
The two sides have already agreed to reclaim land to build an airstrip, as originally agreed to in a 2006 deal, rather than constructing the pile-supported pier-type runway studied by the Hatoyama administration.
The 2006 deal called for construction of two runways in a V-shape, but the possibility of reducing the base to a single runway is being considered.
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