relocation

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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