Gates: Disputed U.S. airfield should stay on Okinawa

If the base were forced to move, Gates suggested that the entire deal to relocate troops to Guam might fall through. "It's hard for me to believe that the Congress would support going forward in Guam without real progress with respect to the Futenma replacement facility," he told reporters aboard his military jet on the way to Japan.

He said that other, unidentified locations for the air field that were reviewed by the U.S. and Japanese governments were either politically or operationally impossible.

Gates said he had no problem with Hatoyama's decision to review the agreement, and cited "some flexibility" in terms of where, precisely, a new runway might be built at Camp Schwab. But ultimately, Gates said, the runway location is a matter for the local Okinawa government to decide with Tokyo.

The United States is Japan's key military ally, and an estimated 50,000 American troops are deployed there.

The issue of Japan withdrawing two of its naval ships from the Indian Ocean — tankers that have been used as refueling pit stops for Afghanistan-bound allies — will also be discussed over the next two days, Gates said.

However, it was unclear whether Gates thought he could reverse that decision.

"A number of countries benefit more from the refueling than the United States does," Gates said. "So I don't see the refueling as being a favor to the United States, but rather a contribution that the Japanese have made that is commensurate with its standing in the world as the second-wealthiest country and one of the great powers."

He added, "I'm sure we'll talk about it."

1|2

SharePrintEmail

Write a Comment

Terms

Enter your comments - 3000 characters max

Type in image code

Submit

 Receive China Post promos
 Respond to this email