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US-Japan plan to build heliport runs into local opposition

A US-Japan agreement to build a heliport at a US military base on Okinawa ran into opposition from the island's residents yesterday, and Japan's defense chief predicted Tokyo would struggle to get their approval for the plan.

The deal struck on Wednesday would close the Marine Corps Air Station, Futenma, and build a new heliport at another base on the island, Camp Schwab.

Critics of the US bases support closing Futenma -- but they also oppose any new military construction.

Defense Agency chief Yoshinori Ono told an upper house committee yesterday that he anticipated difficult negotiations after discussing the plan with Okinawa Governor Keiichi Inamine.

"The governor's reaction was tough, but I asked for his understanding and cooperation on the issues of reducing the number of marines and integrating bases," Ono told committee members. "I understand it will be tough."

grievances

On Okinawa, about 40 members of civic groups opposed to the plan met with Inamine to voice their grievances.

"The governor should clearly reject the new base which Japan and the US agreed on," activist Tokunobu Yamauchi said.

The US considers Okinawa the linchpin of its military posture in East Asia. The island hosts most of the 50,000 troops based in Japan.

However, Okinawans have long complained of crime, crowding and noise associated with the bases, and Japan has pushed for adjustments in the US presence.

scuttled

Wednesday's agreement, which scuttled a much-protested plan to build a heliport on a coral reef off Okinawa, paved the way for broader talks on the realignment of US forces in Japan.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld are to meet their Japanese counterparts on Saturday in Washington.

US officials have not released any changes being considered, but Japanese Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said on Wednesday they would involve reducing the number of the thousands of marines on Okinawa.

moved

Machimura gave no details. However, Japanese news reports said about 4,000 marines would be moved to other bases in Japan and on the US Pacific island territory of Guam.

Japan's Kyodo News agency and the Nihon Keizai newspaper also reported that the government would try to avoid a battle with Okinawan officials over the heliport by passing legislation to give Tokyo direct power over the territory where the new facility would be built.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi denied knowing anything about the plan. It was also unclear how long it would take to complete the new facility.

Japan's Nikkei news agency quoted a Defense Agency official as saying it would be finished as early as 2013, but the Mainichi newspaper reported 2014 as the target date.
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