ID :
183404
Fri, 05/20/2011 - 18:59
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https://oananews.org//node/183404
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Japan, U.S. plan to withdraw 2014 deadline for Futenma relocation
TOKYO, May 20 Kyodo -
Japan and the United States plan to formally withdraw at a bilateral ministerial security meeting in late June their long-standing deadline of 2014 for completing the relocation of the U.S. Marine's Futenma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture, Japanese sources said Friday.
The two governments are discussing a new phrase for the time frame eyed for completing the move, such as ''as soon as possible,'' without setting a specific deadline, while sticking to the same relocation site, in light of strong local opposition, according to the sources.
At the ''two-plus-two'' meeting of foreign and defense ministers, the two countries are also to finalize the configuration of a new airfield to be built as replacement for Futenma to have two runways in a V-shaped formation, the sources said.
Under the 2006 road map, the two countries are to move Marine flight functions to the coast of Nago from the Futenma base in the populated city of Ginowan, both in the southwestern Japan island prefecture, by 2014.
But the relocation, which is tied to the transfer of Marines to Guam from Okinawa, has met stiff opposition from local politicians and residents, who are calling for the base to be moved outside of the prefecture.
The deadlock over the relocation has made it more likely that the Futenma base will continue to be used in the present manner, something locals have vociferously opposed citing risks and noises the base has posed to residents nearby.
Although the deal was forged in 2006, it took longer than originally thought to conduct environmental assessment at the proposed relocation site due to local opposition.
The government led by the Democratic Party of Japan, which ousted the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party from power in the summer of 2009, further complicated the matter by floating the possibility that the Futenma base be relocated outside of the prefecture.
The reelection of Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima last November on a campaign pledge to seek the base's relocation outside the prefecture has effectively made the 2014 deadline impossible to be met.
According to Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, building a new airfield would take three to four years, but there is little prospect of the governor giving the go-ahead for the reclamation of the sea, over which he has authority, for the project.
On Friday, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa reversed Tokyo's stance on the deadline, telling a news conference, ''It's not good to keep as a premise something which has no viability no matter how you look at it.''
No new deadline is forthcoming for the relocation given the small likelihood of locals accepting a base relocation within Okinawa anytime soon, according to the sources.
Setting a deadline is feared to inflame local people's feelings, they said, although a senior Defense Ministry official says setting no specific deadline would lead to the ''fixation'' of the Futenma base in its present form.
Spurred on by mass protests over the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa by two U.S. Marines and a U.S. sailor in 1995, Japan and the United States agreed the following year on fully returning the land used for the Futenma base to Japan within five to seven years.
In 1999, the Japanese government decided to move the Futenma base to a coastal area of Nago's Henoko district. Specifics of the relocation were spelled out in the 2006 bilateral deal on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
In May last year, the government of then Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama refreshed the agreement with the U.S. government, saying that the Futenma base will be relocated to Cape Henoko and the waters nearby, but left the configuration of the new airfield to be decided later.
Japan and the United States plan to formally withdraw at a bilateral ministerial security meeting in late June their long-standing deadline of 2014 for completing the relocation of the U.S. Marine's Futenma Air Station within Okinawa Prefecture, Japanese sources said Friday.
The two governments are discussing a new phrase for the time frame eyed for completing the move, such as ''as soon as possible,'' without setting a specific deadline, while sticking to the same relocation site, in light of strong local opposition, according to the sources.
At the ''two-plus-two'' meeting of foreign and defense ministers, the two countries are also to finalize the configuration of a new airfield to be built as replacement for Futenma to have two runways in a V-shaped formation, the sources said.
Under the 2006 road map, the two countries are to move Marine flight functions to the coast of Nago from the Futenma base in the populated city of Ginowan, both in the southwestern Japan island prefecture, by 2014.
But the relocation, which is tied to the transfer of Marines to Guam from Okinawa, has met stiff opposition from local politicians and residents, who are calling for the base to be moved outside of the prefecture.
The deadlock over the relocation has made it more likely that the Futenma base will continue to be used in the present manner, something locals have vociferously opposed citing risks and noises the base has posed to residents nearby.
Although the deal was forged in 2006, it took longer than originally thought to conduct environmental assessment at the proposed relocation site due to local opposition.
The government led by the Democratic Party of Japan, which ousted the long-governing Liberal Democratic Party from power in the summer of 2009, further complicated the matter by floating the possibility that the Futenma base be relocated outside of the prefecture.
The reelection of Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima last November on a campaign pledge to seek the base's relocation outside the prefecture has effectively made the 2014 deadline impossible to be met.
According to Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto, building a new airfield would take three to four years, but there is little prospect of the governor giving the go-ahead for the reclamation of the sea, over which he has authority, for the project.
On Friday, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa reversed Tokyo's stance on the deadline, telling a news conference, ''It's not good to keep as a premise something which has no viability no matter how you look at it.''
No new deadline is forthcoming for the relocation given the small likelihood of locals accepting a base relocation within Okinawa anytime soon, according to the sources.
Setting a deadline is feared to inflame local people's feelings, they said, although a senior Defense Ministry official says setting no specific deadline would lead to the ''fixation'' of the Futenma base in its present form.
Spurred on by mass protests over the rape of a 12-year-old girl in Okinawa by two U.S. Marines and a U.S. sailor in 1995, Japan and the United States agreed the following year on fully returning the land used for the Futenma base to Japan within five to seven years.
In 1999, the Japanese government decided to move the Futenma base to a coastal area of Nago's Henoko district. Specifics of the relocation were spelled out in the 2006 bilateral deal on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.
In May last year, the government of then Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama refreshed the agreement with the U.S. government, saying that the Futenma base will be relocated to Cape Henoko and the waters nearby, but left the configuration of the new airfield to be decided later.
