US to trim 7,000 troops at Japanese base
WASHINGTON—The United States will remove 7,000 Marines from Okinawa in a
major overhaul of American troops and bases in Japan under a US global
plan to make its military more flexible, top officials said on Saturday.
The base realignment unveiled by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and
his Japanese counterpart, Yoshinori Ohno, also boosts bilateral military
cooperation in areas ranging from disaster relief to ballistic missile
defense to counterproliferation.
Japan’s embrace of a sweeping plan to build up joint defenses with the
United States signals Tokyo’s acceptance of a growing military
responsibility in the world and concern about the ambitions of North
Korea and China, analysts said.
“This relationship must and is in fact evolving to remain strong and
relevant,” said Rumsfeld, whose Pentagon has long urged Japan to
contribute more to global security.
Ohno told reporters “we are in fact opening a new era” in the evolution
of the bilateral alliance beyond its initial narrow role of protecting
Japan to cover contingencies in areas surrounding the Pacific Ocean
island nation.
“We’re now talking about joint activities in various areas between Japan
and the United States in order to improve the peace security around the
world,” he said.
Ohno, in a nod to sensitive public opinion at home and in neighboring
Asian countries invaded by Imperial Japan, stressed that Japanese
activities would adhere to its war-renouncing constitution and “not
involve use of force”.
China was upset after a February round of US-Japan talks when the two
allies listed Taiwan as a mutual security concern. Beijing claims
sovereignty over Taiwan, which has been split politically from the
mainland since 1949.
The removal of 7,000 of the 18,000 US Marines based on Okinawa is part
of an effort to reduce grievances on the southern Japanese island over
crime, accidents, noise and environmental problems with American bases
and troops.
The Marines to be taken out of Okinawa, home to most of the 50,000 US
troops in Japan, will be transferred to Guam and other areas within six
years, US officials said.
The agreement, which was also endorsed by Secretary of State Condoleezza
Rice and Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, does not mention
potential adversaries by name.
But it said the two sides “underscored the need to pay attention to
modernization of military capabilities in the region”.
Japan and the United States, most recently with Rumsfeld’s trip to
Beijing last week, have raised concerns that China’s rapid military
buildup could destabilize the Pacific region.
The agreement includes plans to install powerful US X-band radar system
to track ballistic missile attacks on Japan and to expand bilateral
defense planning, intelligence cooperation and military training.
The allies agreed to set up military facilities at US and Japanese
military bases in Japan, including an operations coordination center and
an air command and control center at Yokota Air Base near Tokyo, the
statement said.
On Thursday, the United States said it would for the first time base a
nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Japan starting in 2008, after the
only country ever hit with atomic bombs dropped its longstanding
resistance to the move.—Agencies
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