Guam Buildup Boost? US Pressured To Find New Home For Okinawa Air Base
Written by Michael Rudolph, Guam News Factor Writer
Thursday, 15 October 2009 03:31
GUAM - The United States and Japan have agreed to "accelerate talks on the planned relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa," according to Japan Times Online. What this means for Guam remains to be seen. By way of bilateral accord, Guam's pending $15 billion military buildup is tied to the relocation of the Futenma Air Base.
The Times Online reports that Japan is pushing to move the "heliport functions of the Futenma Air Station outside Okinawa, or even outside Japan," although this goes against the 2006 agreement between Japan and the United States to transfer Air Station Futenma to the more remote location of Camp Schwab by the year 2014. U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell hopes to "to have real progress over the course of the next several weeks in preparation fo Presidents Obama's visit here to Japan in early November," the Times reported.
No comments:
Post a Comment