TOKYO (AP) — The partial switch of U.S. Marines from Okinawa in Guam started Saturday, 12 years after Japan and the United States agreed to their realignment to cut back the heavy burden of American troop presence on Japan’s southern island, officers mentioned.
The transfer started with the motion of 100 members of the III Marine Expeditionary Force stationed on the Pacific island of Okinawa for preliminary logistical work, the US Marine Corps and the Japanese Ministry of Defense mentioned in a joint assertion.
Under the plan agreed between Tokyo and Washington in April 2012, roughly 9,000 of the 19,000 Marines at the moment stationed on Okinawa are to be moved from Okinawa, of which roughly 4,000 will probably be transferred to Guam in phases. Details, together with the dimensions and timing of the upcoming transfer, weren’t instantly launched.
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The Marine Corps is dedicated to the protection of Japan and assembly operational necessities to keep up a free and open Indo-Pacific, and can keep presence within the area “by a mixture of stationing and rotation of Marines in Japan, Guam and Hawaii,” mentioned the mentioned a joint assertion.
Japan has paid as much as $2.8 billion to construct infrastructure at U.S. bases on Guam, and the U.S. authorities will fund the remaining prices. The two governments will proceed to cooperate on the event of Camp Blaz, which is able to function the first set up for Marines stationed on Guam.
The Marines and Japan Self-Defense Forces will conduct joint coaching in Guam, the assertion mentioned.
Okinawa, which was below postwar U.S. occupation till 1972, nonetheless hosts the vast majority of the greater than 50,000 American troops primarily based in Japan below a bilateral safety pact, whereas 70 % of U.S. army amenities are situated on Okinawa , which represents solely 0.6%. of Japanese land.
Many Okinawans they have been complaining for a long time in regards to the heavy U.S. army presence on the island and say Okinawa faces noise, air pollution, airplane crashes and crime linked to American troops.
The transfer is more likely to be welcomed by native residents, however it’s unclear how a lot enchancment they may really feel because of Japan’s speedy army buildup on the Okinawa islands as a deterrent in opposition to threats from China.
The begin of the Marine transfer comes at a time of rising anti-American army sentiment a series of cases of sexual violence involving American troopers.
A senior Air Force member from Kadena Air Base was convicted Thursday of the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenage lady final yr, a case that sparked outrage on the island. The Naha District Court sentenced him to 5 years in jail.
