TOKYO: The US and Japan yesterday announced an agreement for the return to Japan of a US air base, taking a step to resolving an issue that has vexed ties when both countries face a belligerent North Korea and a rising China.
The US Marines’ Futenma air base on Okinawa island will be returned to Japan as early as 2022 if a planned relocation within the island is carried out.
By unveiling the deal, which includes time frames for the return of all or part of five other US military facilities on the southern Japanese island, Japan and the United States aim to send a message that their alliance is on a solid footing.
“With the security environment in the Asia-Pacific region getting tougher, I’m glad that we were able to show that the bond of trust in the Japan-US alliance is not wavering at all,” Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.
Japan’s ties with the United States were strained after then-Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama in 2009 sought to keep a campaign promise to move the Futenma base off the island.
The Japanese government, however, could find no alternative site and was forced to reaffirm a 2006 agreement to move the base to a less populous area on the island, although the plan still faces opposition from residents, who associate US bases with noise, pollution and crime.
Okinawa, occupied by the United States from 1945-72, accounts for less than 1 percent of Japan’s total land but hosts three-quarters of the US military facilities in the country in terms of land area.
REUTERS
