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Business News/ News / World/  Okinawa governor approves site for new US base, says report
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Okinawa governor approves site for new US base, says report

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Friday hailed the decision, saying it was a milestone for relations with Tokyo

Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima (right) talks to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) during their meeting at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters Premium
Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima (right) talks to Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (left) during their meeting at Abe’s official residence in Tokyo on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Tokyo: The governor of Okinawa approved a land reclamation project that will enable a US military base to be moved out of a crowded city center, the Asahi newspaper reported on its website on Friday.

Hirokazu Nakaima’s office agreed to a plan to put the base in a sparsely populated part of Okinawa, the newspaper said, without saying where it got the information. The move will allow the closure of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, criticized as dangerous for its proximity to schools and homes, and the return of the land to local people.

Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel on Friday hailed the decision, saying it was a “milestone" for relations with Tokyo. He said the decision would permit a redeployment of American forces in the area and bolster Washington’s strategic “rebalance" to the Asia-Pacific region. “Reaching this milestone is a clear demonstration to the region that the alliance is capable of handling complex, difficult problems in order to deal effectively with 21st century security challenges," Hagel said in a statement.

The decision will remove a thorn in US-Japan relations after 17 years of wrangling and help cement security ties, something Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said is essential amid rising tensions with China over a territorial dispute. It comes a day after the US expressed disappointment over Abe’s visit to a Tokyo war shrine.

Nakaima’s decision may spark anger in Okinawa, where most people support moving the base out of the prefecture entirely. It makes up less than 1% of Japan’s land area and hosts about half the 38,000 US military personnel stationed in Japan. Residents complain of noise, crime, accidents and pollution associated with bases there.

A poll published by regional broadcaster Ryukyu Asahi Hoso on 3 December found three-quarters of the 1,076 respondents said Futenma, now located in the city of Ginowan, should be moved outside the prefecture or outside the country. About 72% said the governor should not approve the land reclamation project to build the new base. The survey was carried out between 28 November and 2 December and gave no margin of error.

Reduce burden

The outcry over the gang rape of a 12-year-old girl by three servicemen on Okinawa in 1995 led to a US-Japan agreement in 1996 that the Futenma base be closed in five to seven years in an effort to reduce the burden on the prefecture. Ten years later the two governments agreed on a plan for the replacement facility and the transfer of thousands of troops to Guam.

This week Abe smoothed the way for the base move by pledging to provide at least ¥300 billion ($2.86 billion) to Okinawa annually, until 2021. Nakaima is scheduled to give a press conference later today to explain his decision. Bloomberg

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Published: 27 Dec 2013, 11:55 AM IST
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