Jul 28 05:35 AM US/Eastern
The planned move of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam must be achieved on time and the Japanese government has not heard from the United States that the transfer could be delayed beyond the current target of Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku said Wednesday.
Sengoku, the government's top spokesman, made the remarks following a senior U.S. official's testimony on Tuesday before a congressional panel that the transfer may not be realized by the target year due to a shortage of infrastructure on Guam.
"We hope to do this through mutual cooperation as promised and there has been no notice from the United States that it has given up on the 2014 transfer or stopped it," Sengoku said at a news conference.
The transfer of some 8,000 Marines from the Japanese island to the U.S. Pacific territory is a pillar of the bilateral accord forged in 2006 to realign U.S. forces in Japan.
If the Marines' redeployment is delayed, it is likely to affect the overall realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, including the relocation of the Marines Corps' Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, as they are all part of a package deal, analysts say.
Sengoku said Japan remains committed to the agreement and plans to tell the U.S. government of its resolve.
"We believe that the United States will live up to its promise," he said.
On Tuesday, Jackalyne Pfannenstiel, assistant secretary of the navy in charge of energy, installations and environment issues, said in prepared testimony before the panel that the Department of Defense "recognizes that Guam has existing infrastructure deficiencies that could affect the ability of DoD to execute the program on an aggressive construction schedule."
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