The Japanese cabinet approved a final plan on the reorganization
of the US military presence in Japan Tuesday, nearly a month after
Tokyo and Washington struck a deal on the realignment package,
Kyodo News said.
The plan, based on the US-Japan Roadmap for Realignment
Implementation signed on May 1 in Washington, was approved at a
Cabinet meeting Tuesday morning.
The plan covers realignment steps such as relocation of the US
Marine Corps Futenma Air Station within Okinawa, moving 8,000 of
the 18,000 US Marines from Okinawa to Guam by 2014 and others.
However, according to Kyodo, apparently due to Japanese local
resistance, the newly approved plan did not touch the controversial
issues such as the building of the new airfield with two runways
aligned in a V-shape as previously mentioned in the Roadmap, or the
deadline for drawing up concrete details.
Okinawa Gov. Keiichi Inamine has yet to officially accept the
relocation plan.
"We will continue our efforts to gain the understanding and
cooperation of local communities in Okinawa Prefecture," Prime
Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday evening.
No exact amount of cost to be shouldered by Tokyo was mentioned.
Though recent media reports said that the government estimated to
pay 1.1 trillion yen (US$9.82 billion) over the upcoming eight to
ten years for the realignment of US military presence in Japan.
American troops have been stationed in Japan since the end of
World War II in 1945. Currently, there are about 50,000 US troops
located in Japan. Local residents have long complained of crime,
noise and crowding associated with the US military presence.
(Xinhua News Agency May 30, 2006)
