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| Residents of Okinawa Prefecture protest against the Yukio Hatoyama administration in Nago City in this May 4, 2010, file photo, calling for the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station to outside of the prefecture. / Yonhap |
Function adjustment could help resolve Futenma controversy
By Jun Ji-hye
OKINAWA — Since the end of World War II, the presence of the U.S. military on this exotic island has long been a controversial issue.
Thousands of local residents protest against the presence of a total of 32 U.S. military facilities on the island, citing noise, pollution, dangerous exercises conducted by U.S. troops, along with a number of crimes committed by soldiers based here.
In particular, the Marine Corps Futenma Air Station, currently located near the densely populated Naha, is a focus of controversy due to the bungled actions of the administration of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.
In 2010, he abandoned a pledge made while campaigning for office in which he promised to get the base moved off the island. The decision not to implement the pledge he made was a huge disappointment to local people.
Since then, the Japanese government has maintained a plan to retain the base on the island by relocating it to another place within the prefecture in order to comply with an existing agreement between Tokyo and Washington.
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| This aerial photo shows the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa. / Courtesy of the Okinawan city of Ginowan |
The site envisioned for the relocation of the facility is in the coastal area of Henoko, a small town near Nago in northern Okinawa.
Residents there have long been protesting against a plan to build a runway on reclaimed land, arguing that the beautiful coastal area should not be destroyed.
However, a high-ranking Washington official, speaking on condition of anonymity as demanded by an entity of the U.S. government, made it clear that the relocation of the Futenma base should proceed as planned.
"I expect the functions of the unit to be well-maintained in Henoko," said the official asking not to be named. "Adjusting its functions and eventually downsizing them, rather than returning the base, would resolve this controversy. We are speaking to the Japanese government in this regard."
He also made it clear that a fleet of MV-22 Ospreys, support and assault aircraft stationed in Futenma, should be moved to Henoko along with other hardware.
"Some are calling for the Ospreys to be moved outside of Okinawa. But Ospreys are not fighters, it is a transport location. We cannot only move the aircraft because people are trained here," he said.
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| An MV-22 Osprey arrives at the U.S. Marine Corps' Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture, western Japan in this July 23, 2012, file photo. The deployment of 24 U.S. military transport aircraft in the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture has caused protests by local people over safety issues that have aggravated longstanding grassroots concerns over the presence of U.S. bases on the island. / Yonhap |
His comment referred to a previous push made by the Japanese government to have the Ospreys moved to the Saga Prefecture of Kyushu in an effort to mitigate resistance from Okinawans regarding the relocation of the Futenma base.
According to Jiji Press in August, Pentagon officials objected when Tokyo outlined the proposal to move the Ospreys to Saga, saying it would be more appropriate to move the planes to the new facility in Henoko.
Twelve MV-22 Ospreys were deployed at the Futenma air base in 2010 despite strong opposition from local residents amid concerns about the aircraft's safety. Ospreys have been involved in a total of 58 accidents from 2007 to 2012. The U.S. military plans to deploy a total of 24 transports in Futenma by the end of this year.
Besides the Futenma controversy, the U.S. official is also well aware of a demand long held by local residents for a reduction in the number of U.S. military facilities on the island or their eventual removal.
According to a survey of Okinawans conducted in 2010 by Mainichi Shimbun and Ryukyu Shimpo, 71 percent of local people thought that the presence of U.S. soldiers on the island was not necessary. Among them, 50 percent said that the number should be reduced, while 41 percent said that all the bases should be removed. Only 15 percent supported the presence of American soldiers.
The demand to remove the U.S. bases was further fueled in 1995 following the abduction and rape of a teenage Okinawan schoolgirl by two U.S. marines and one U.S. sailor who were drunk. A number of helicopter crashes have also increased local resistance. In August 2004, a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter crashed into the Okinawa International University. Although there were no injuries, people living around Futenma Air Station remain anxious and concerned.
"After the alcohol tragedy, many people said that something has to be done. The desire among local residents for the bases to be moved was growing," the U.S. official said.
He also cited the characteristics of "this particular island" — Okinawans have a natural aspiration to maintain a good relationship with Beijing because many of their ancestors originated in China. "This could be one reason for them to demand the removal of the U.S. bases," said the official.
But he stressed that the removal is not a good idea, given the geographical location.
"The U.S. bases in Okinawa have been expanding because of uncertainty in the region," he said. "So, we become very cautious if people call the bases to be removed."
Indeed, Okinawa has been cited as a key area in Asia because of its proximity to China, Russia, the Korean Peninsula and the Japanese mainland. This has made the island the linchpin of U.S. military strategy in Asia and the base for about 60 percent of the total number of U.S. soldiers stationed in Japan.
This percentage is notable, when considering that Japan's southernmost prefecture accounts for only 0.6 percent of the nation's total land area. In this regard, a Tokyo-based analyst who studies defense and security issues cited the balance of burden among the prefectures in Japan as one reason for Okinawa's frustrations.
"For Okinawans, such a big proportion of U.S. forces presence compared to the size of the land is strong evidence showing that the mainland has looked down on the island," the analyst said asking not to be named.
With regard to the Futenma controversy, the analyst in Tokyo also criticized former Prime Minister Hatoyama's "irrational promise" to move the base out of the prefecture.
"Hatoyama raised the expectations of people in Okinawa by suddenly expressing his initiative. However, from the viewpoint of the national security, it is not rational to separate the U.S. marine air base from other components in Okinawa," he said.
"Hatoyama's impossible initiative simply harmed the minds of Okinawans, which led to a complicated situation in recent years."
He added, "Even long before Hatoyama's initiative, it was clear that the only way to ease the burden for Okinawa without compromising national security was to move the base to other place in Okinawa, Henoko," he said. "So, the Japanese government has no choice, but to promote this option."
The U.S. official stressed, "Again, the U.S. is trying to resolve the controversy by adjusting functions of its bases. It would depend on functions, but we could eventually downsize them. Conversations with the Japanese government are still going on."
