TOKYO (AP) — The partial switch of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam started on Saturday, 12 years after Japan and the USA agreed on their realignment to cut back the heavy burden of American troop presence on the southern Japanese island, officers stated.
The relocation began with 100 members of III Marine Expeditionary Drive stationed on Okinawa transferring to the Pacific island for the preliminary logistical work, the U.S. Marine Corps and Japan’s Protection Ministry stated in a joint assertion.
Below the plan agreed between Tokyo and Washington in April 2012, about 9,000 of the 19,000 Marines at present stationed on Okinawa are to be moved out of Okinawa, together with about 4,000 of them to be moved to Guam in phases. Particulars, together with the scale and timing of the following switch, 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 it’ll preserve presence within the area “via a mixture of stationing and rotating Marines in Japan, Guam and Hawaii,” the joint assertion stated.
Japan has paid as much as $2.8 billion for the constructing of infrastructure on the U.S. bases on Guam, and the U.S. authorities will fund the remaining prices. The 2 governments will proceed to cooperate on the event of Camp Blaz, which is able to function the primary set up for Marines stationed in Guam.
The Marines and Japan Self Protection Forces will conduct joint coaching in Guam, the assertion stated.
Okinawa, which was underneath U.S. postwar occupation till 1972, remains to be residence to a majority of the greater than 50,000 American troops primarily based in Japan underneath a bilateral safety pact, whereas 70% of U.S. navy services are on Okinawa, which accounts for under 0.6% of Japanese land.
Many Okinawans have long complained concerning the heavy U.S. navy presence on the island, and say Okinawa faces noise, air pollution, plane accidents and crime associated to American troops.
The relocation is more likely to be welcomed by native residents, however how a lot enchancment they’ll really feel is unsure due to the fast Japanese navy buildup on Okinawan islands as a deterrence to threats from China.
The beginning of the Marines relocation comes at a time of rising anti-U.S. navy sentiment following a series of sexual assault cases involving American servicemembers.
On Thursday, a senior Air Drive servicemember belonging to the Kadena Air Base was convicted of the kidnapping and sexual assault of a teenage lady final 12 months, a case that triggered outrage on the island. The Naha District Courtroom sentenced him to 5 years in jail.
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