Japanese Ministry of Defense denies friction, but the Pentagon imposes conditions
The return of the Futenma air base, on the island of Okinawa, southwest of Japan, is subject to the selection of a longer runway than those planned at the Henoko relocation site. The US Department of Defense communicated this to a congressional supervisory body, reports the Japanese public broadcaster NHK: a position that reopens the dossier of the redeployment of American forces in the south of the archipelago, despite the reassurances of Tokyo’s Defense Minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, who denied any misunderstanding between the two allies. The technical issue according to NHK is based on technical data: the current Futenma runway measures 2,740 metres; the replacement project involves two of 1,800 meters each, arranged in a V in Henoko Bay, in Nago. In 2017, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) had already recommended resolving the “operational shortcomings” resulting from the reduction in length, suggesting alternative structures. According to the Pentagon, or the US Department of War, the final choice of an alternative runway lies with Tokyo, and the return of Futenma will not occur until that selection is completed. A different interpretation comes from Tokyo. Koizumi underlined that, if the transfer to Henoko proceeds as agreed, the handover of the site will take place regularly. The Japanese Ministry of Defense recalls that a regulatory framework already exists for the use of civil airports in emergency scenarios, as provided for in the 2013 bilateral agreement. The recent frictions in the security relationship between the two allied countries, and “Washington’s strategic needs”, note the local media, clash with local political sensitivities in Okinawa, which has been at the center of the debate on the American military presence in Japan for decades. Approximately 60,000 active duty soldiers and civilian personnel from the US Department of Defense are stationed in the country. About 70% of U.S. troops in Japan are located on Okinawa, even though the island represents less than 1% of the nation’s land area.
