U.S., Japan Talks End Without Agreement
By ERIC TALMADGE TOKYO
Asian News, AP - 4 years ago
The latest talks on realigning the American military presence in Japan failed to produce a final agreement because of differences over the cost of relocating 7,000 Marines to Guam, officials said Friday.
Richard Lawless, U.S. Defense deputy undersecretary for Asia and Pacific affairs, said he was pleased by some progress made during the two-day round of talks but several points had yet to be worked out, said U.S. Embassy spokesman Michael Boyle.
Lawless said the two sides agreed on a plan to move an airstrip on the southern island of Okinawa to a less crowded area, but failed to work out how to divide up the cost of relocating the Marines to the Pacific island of Guam.
The United States wants Japan to pay 75 percent of the estimated $10 billion cost of moving 7,000 Marines from the southern island of Okinawa to Guam, a U.S. territory about halfway between Japan and Hawaii.
Japan had agreed to pay about a third of that amount, but on Thursday reportedly proposed paying $3 billion of the cost plus another $3 billion in loans.
Officials Friday refused to comment on how the United States responded to that offer, or if Japan maintained that position during talks.
Boyle said both sides agreed to resume talks soon but had not set a place or location.
"We are moving toward an overall agreement," Defense Agency chief Fukushiro Nukaga told a news conference before Friday's talks. "Other than the cost of moving the Marines, we have no major gaps between us."
The talks are part of the biggest restructuring and streamlining of the U.S. military in Japan in decades. An outline of the overall realignment plan was announced in October and was to be finalized by the end of March.
Under a mutual security pact, the United States has about 50,000 troops stationed in Japan. The presence includes more than 10,000 Marines, several major air bases and the home port for the Seventh Fleet, the Navy's only fleet based outside the United States.
The two sides have already agreed to beef up cooperation between their militaries, station a U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier just south of Tokyo and significantly improve information sharing.
The decision to move most of the Marines off the crowded island of Okinawa has been widely welcomed. Though a major boost to the local economy, the deployment of U.S. troops on Okinawa has generated deep concerns over crime, accidents and the use of scarce land.