Vincent Pollard, a Professor of Asian Studies at the University of Hawai’i forwarded this link to an article about the U.S. military bases in Okinawa that was published in the People’s Daily, an official news organ of the Communist Party of China.  He noted how rare it is for the Communist Party of China to comment directly on such sensitive matters in  U.S.-China relations as military bases.

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http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90780/91343/6901412.html

US Marines base transfer issue too ticklish to bypass

14:13, February 24, 2010

Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa voiced his opposition Sunday (February 21) to the idea of transforming all U.S. Marine troops stationed in Okinawa, citing the prefecture as playing a “very important role” in preventing conflicts in the region. Japan plans to finalize a plan for replacement or realignment by the end of February and is expected to coordinate with the United States over the Marines relocation issue in March.

The issue on transfer of Air Station Futenma has been the focus of growing attention in Japan’s public opinions. According to a U.S.-Japan agreement reached in 2006, about 8,000 of some 18,000 U.S. Marines stationed on Okinawa will move to Guam before the end of 2014 while leaving a phantom force of 10,000 and continuing to receive huge sums of money from Japan.

At the same time, Air Station Futenma situated in the center of Ginowan city will be relocated to an off-shore location in Henoko Bay in the city of Nago, northern Okinawa.

When the incumbent ruling Democratic Party was in opposition, it intended to move Air Station Futenma out of Okinawa prefecture and even abroad and, after coming to office last year, however, it also felt the issue practically difficult and ticklish to deal with.

On the one hand, the U.S. Marine base in Okinawa has been blighted by much noise, off-duty crime and air pollution. Yoichi Iha, the newly-elected Ginowan city mayor, repeatedly claimed that it is hard to accept the existing Japan-U.S. agreement through serious explorations and researches he had done into the accord. Meanwhile, the Kyodo News (Politics) noted that other locations, too, did not want to accept the U.S. base via a survey it has conducted among local officials in Japan.

On the other hand, the United States has been hoping that Japan will implement the existing the U.S.-Japan accord, although it expressed its willingness or readiness to wait for the final Japanese plan or model and has worked to pursue deregulation in Japan for years.

Senator Jim Webb, chairman of the East Asia and Pacific Subcommittee on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said last week that the United States would suspend the relocation of 8,000 Marines stationed in Okinawa to Guam before the Japanese government makes the decision on the relocation of Futenma Marine Corps Air Station within Okinawa.

The massive transfer of American Marines to Guam is ostensibly to comply with public opinions in Japan but has actually resulted from the reassessment and realignment of Asia’s security situation and the war on terror. This was a consensus shared by some Japanese scholars even when the Japan-U.S. agreement was inked back in 2006. Consequently, the U.S. would not easily alter its plan on the transfer of its Marines to Guam.

On the part of the U.S., out of its numerous military bases in Japan, the bases of Yokosuka, Kadena and Sasebo cannot be abandoned whatsoever. As for Air Station Futenma, things are quite different as it does not occupy a vital, significant status in its East Asia Strategy but merely shares five percent of the U.S. input in all its Marine bases in Japan.

As far as Japan is concerned, however, a major reason for its indecisiveness on the matter is owed to varied internal interpretations on the Japan-U.S. alliance. With regard to the issue of forging “close and equal Japan-U.S. relations”, acknowledged some Japanese scholars, the U.S. strategy should not be accepted blindly and indiscriminately but policies be formulated proceeding from Japan’s own interests.

As for Prime Minister Hatoyama’s cabinet, the issue relating to the relocation of Air Base Futenma has to be tackled and the United States should be persuaded to attach close importance to public opinions in Japan. And this is of vital significance, regardless of the attainment of the relocation program or the accomplishment of Japan’s political aspiration in the Japan-U.S. bilateral relations for years to come.

By People’s Daily Online and contributed by PD reporter Cao Pengcheng