Thursday, March 22, 2001

By David Allen
Okinawa bureau chief

CAMP FOSTER — Placing a time limit on the use of a new Marine Corps air station on Okinawa would be difficult, President Bush said Monday.

The time limit is a "difficult issue" because no one knows what the security situation for the Pacific region will be that far into the future, Bush said during a meeting with Japan Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori in Washington, D.C.

The United States and Japan agreed in 1996 to close the Futenma Marine Corps Air Station if an alternate site for Marine air operations could be located on Okinawa. After years of debate, Okinawa officials agreed to a new air station to be built in Henoko in northeast Okinawa.

But they stipulated their approval was on condition the airport be used jointly by commercial aircraft and a 15-year limit be placed on military use of the facility.

The United States and Japan agreed on commercial use of the airport, but have been at loggerheads over the time limit. The project is in the early planning stages. A Japan Defense Facilities Administration official in Naha earlier this week said it could be 10 years or more before such a base could be built.

That means Okinawa officials are asking the U.S. military to abandon the facility sometime after 2026. It’s hard to look that far into the future, U.S. officials have said.

According to a report on Kyodo News service, a senior U.S. official said, "The president said that any relocation issues have to be looked at in the total context of our presence in the region, and that we would fully discuss these with Japan."

Okinawa officials were disappointed at the news from Washington.

"It was regrettable that no progress was made on this specific issue," Gov. Keiichi Inamine said in a statement released Tuesday.

"We have been asking the national government, which has the responsibility of providing the U.S. military with land and facilities, to solve military-related problems," Inamine said.

Besides limiting the use of the Marine air station, Inamine has asked for a reduction of the number of U.S. troops on Okinawa (particularly Marines), reducing the size and number of bases on Okinawa, and changing provisions of the Status of Forces Agreement.

Nago mayor Tateo Kishimoto was also displeased at the news from Washington. The new air station is planned for the eastern district of the city.

"The Japanese government should not give up just because President Bush said it would be difficult," he said. "I want Tokyo to continue negotiating with the U.S. government so the president would change his mind … I will continue to demand the 15-year time limit."

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