Japan approves US forces plan

By Elaine Lies

TOKYO (Reuters) – Japan approved on Tuesday a final plan to
tighten security ties with the United States and reorganise
U.S. troops in the country, part of Washington’s strategy to
make its forces more flexible in the face of modern threats.

Cabinet approval of the plan paves the way for streamlining
the approximately 50,000 U.S. military personnel in Japan and
giving Tokyo a bigger role in the key alliance, the central
pillar of its post-war diplomacy.

The plan faced numerous hurdles, including friction over
agreeing how to fund the relocation of 8,000 U.S. Marines from
Okinawa to Guam that delayed agreement between the two nations
for nearly a month beyond a March 31 deadline.

“This plan aims at reducing the burden on the local people
and is quite meaningful in the sense of strengthening the
U.S.-Japan alliance in the current security climate,” Chief
Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe told a news conference.

The government still has to win over residents of Okinawa,
who remain opposed to moving the Marines’ Futenma airbase
within the southern island due to worries about noise, crime
and the environment.

“We will continue to have good discussions with the local
people and listen to what they want, and continue our efforts
to secure their understanding,” Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi told reporters.

FURTHER DISCUSSIONS

Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine signed a document earlier
this month in which he and the government agreed to “deal with”
relocating Futenma, but later said he had not fully signed off
on the plan and that further discussions were needed.

The troop realignment meshes with Japan’s efforts to move
beyond the constraints of its postwar pacifist constitution and
raise its global security profile.

Tokyo’s shifting security stance is fed by concerns over
North Korea and China’s growing influence as well as its
desires to take on a more “normal” role as a nation whose
military can operate abroad and in conjunction with its allies.

Key to the plan is reducing the burden on Okinawa, which is
home to nearly half the U.S. military in Japan and has long
resented what it sees as an unfair burden.

Local anger flared up in 1995 after a schoolgirl was raped
by three U.S. servicemen and revives periodically whenever U.S.
military personnel are involved in crimes.

Military planners say troops on Okinawa are essential due
to its proximity to China and North Korea but the plan did
agree to pare the number of Marines by 8,000 through a shift to
Guam.

Japan ultimately agreed to pay 59 percent of the total cost
of this move or roughly $6.09 billion, down from the 75 percent
requested by Washington.

Tokyo will also have to pay an additional 1.1 trillion yen
($9.8 billion) over the eight to ten years, down from
government estimates of 2 trillion yen, government sources were
quoted by Kyodo news agency as saying.

($1=112.42 Yen)