Japan's plans to move U.S. military base hit hurdle

Japan's controversial plans to relocate a U.S. military base in Okinawa hit another hurdle Tuesday as local protesters forcibly prevented a key report from being delivered to the island's prefectural government officials. According to local media reports, couriers commissioned to deliver an environmental impact assessment report to Okinawa's prefectural government office in its capital city Naha were twice blocked by some 200 protesters staunchly opposed to the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station being relocated within the prefecture. The delivery van was twice surrounded by placard-wielding local protesters and prevented from gaining access to the prefectural government grounds to hand over the 7,000 page report, central to the relocation plans. Following one of the drivers being physically restrained upon exiting the delivery van, the Okinawa Defense Bureau ordered the delivery company to pull the plug, fearing for the safety of the company's personnel and the escalation of civil unrest in Naha. The central government had originally decided to submit the report by post, due to fears of a backlash from citizens opposed to the base's relocation. A government spokesperson told reporters that by posting the document, rather than submitting it in person, the government hoped to avoid any face-to-face confrontation with protesters. Following the latest debacle concerning the submission of the report, the central government said it still plans to deliver the report and is currently perusing its options. "The defense ministry cannot tell when or how the environmental assessment report will be delivered to Okinawa prefecture," a ministry spokesperson was quoted by local media as saying. The environmental assessment report is central to a bilateral agreement between Japan and the United States to move the base from the crowded city of Ginowan, to the coastal Henoko region on the island, as part of a broader roadmap to realign U.S. forces based in Japan. But the prefectural government of Okinawa as well as its citizens remain staunchly opposed to the idea and calls for the base to be moved off the island completely are becoming increasingly vociferous and questions are being asked as to exactly how the central government plans to finance the plan, being that Tokyo and not Washington will shoulder the majority of the financial burden. In addition, Okinawan officials maintained that a military presence on the island has lead to a number of tragic accidents, an increase in violent crime by U.S. service people and has negatively affected the environment. Local officials also claimed that the relocation of the base to Camp Schwab in the Heneko region on the island and the planned construction of two new runways to facilitate operations there, will have a hugely detrimental affect on the environment as the runways will be partly built over a rare corral reef. The current impasse between the government of Okinawa and Japan 's central government has strained security ties between Japan and the United States and the deadlock has recently intensified due to Japan's defense minister Yasuo Ichikawa, being central to a spate of gaffes concerning the U.S. military in Okinawa. Ichikawa and one of his subordinates made indiscreet remarks about the relocation plan, which infuriated the local government and people in Japan's southernmost prefecture and Ichikawa was forced to sack his Okinawa-based subordinate. The defense minister himself was subsequently slapped with a censure motion from Japan's upper house of parliament. Further delays in submitting the report will exacerbate Washington's frustration with Tokyo over the stalled plans and a senior defense ministry official said Tuesday it would be "hard to gain the United States' acceptance if the submission is delayed at the last minute". About half of the 47,000 U.S. forces in Japan are deployed in Okinawa and the island's politicians have resisted further efforts by Tokyo to have more troops stationed there. Under the bilateral agreement, around 8,000 U.S. marines based in Okinawa will also be transferred to the U.S.-held Pacific island of Guam, a move that will also be largely financed by the Japanese side. But despite of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives agreeing recently to slash key funding to relocate its troops from Okinawa to Guam, plans to move the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station within Okinawa remain the same, Japan's central government maintained. However, speculation is growing that the U.S. side agreeing to cut from its fiscal 2012 budged 150 million U.S. dollars earmarked to relocate its marines and their families to Guam, along with a host of flip-flops and gaffes on Japan's part, may derail the strategic deal made between the two countries. The cash-strapped Japanese government has said it will allocate around 475 million U.S. dollars from this year's defense budget for operations related to the marines' transfer, but these funds may be frozen as the troops' transfer is dependent on the successful completion of the Futenma relocation by 2014, which, in light of the growing deadlock, may be unfeasible.