Japan, U.S. agree on new Futenma site
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Japan and the United States agreed Oct. 26 to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to Camp Schwab, possibly resolving a dispute that has lasted nine years.
The plan, recently proposed by Japan, will involve building a 1,800-meter runway through an area where barracks now stand, as well as filling in some land in Oura Bay.
"It was a long road, but the two sides readily reached an agreement," Defense Agency Chief Yoshinori Ono said after meeting with Richard Lawless, the U.S. deputy undersecretary of defense for Asia and Pacific affairs. Lawless was Washington's chief negotiator in the latest round of talks.
Ono also said the two sides agreed to reduce the number of marines in Okinawa by "a couple of thousand." There are presently some 14,000 marines in Japan, most of them stationed on Okinawa.
The Japanese government still has to persuade the government and people of Okinawa to accept it.
Local officials have demanded the base be relocated outside the prefecture or to a joint civilian-military airport to be built in waters off Nago. (The Japan Times)
日米、普天間移設先で合意
日米両政府は10月26日、沖縄県宜野湾市にある米海兵隊普天間飛行場を米軍キャンプ・シュワブに移設することで合意した。
Shukan ST: Nov. 4, 2005
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