Japan Press Weekly

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2012 February 8 - 14 [OKINAWA]

Plan for new U.S. base in Henoko collapsed: Ichida

Japanese Communist Party Secretariat Head Ichida Tadayoshi on February 8 commented on a Japan-U.S. joint statement, regarding the review of U.S. military realignment projects.

The joint statement stated that in the review, while maintaining the plan to construct a new base in Henoko in Okinawa’s Nago City as an alternative for the U.S. Futenma base in Ginowan City in the prefecture, the two governments agreed to delink the construction plan from the planned transfer of the U.S. Marine Corps from Okinawa to Guam.

Ichida in his comment stated as follows:

The Futenma base issue was triggered by the 1995 schoolgirl rape by three U.S. marines, and the Japanese and U.S. governments then announced the complete return of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station to Japan. However, after the announcement, the two governments concluded an agreement to build an alternative facility for the Futenma base within the prefecture. In 2006, regarding the agreement, they confirmed that as part of the worldwide U.S. forces realignment plan, the new base construction and the transfer of the U.S. Marines to Guam will be carried out as one package. Since then, they have forced Okinawa to accept the base construction in Henoko in advance, claiming that delay in the construction will prevent the Marine Corps from moving to Guam.

It is reported that the reason why both sides revised the package plan and decided to move the Marines to Guam first is because the new U.S. defense strategy aims to “flexibly” deploy the Marines in the Asia-Pacific region. But, in reality, the revision reveals that the existing Japan-U.S. agreement has totally collapsed.

The Japanese and U.S. governments should call off the planned realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan, cancel the new base construction plan, and agree on the immediate closure and return of the Futenma base.