Okinawa governor demands US Marines relocation deadline amid regional security challenges
Analysts doubt Governor Denny Tamaki’s request will be met due to the logistical complexity of transferring thousands of US troops to Guam
Okinawa’s governor has demanded a clear deadline for relocating 9,000 US Marines from the southern Japanese prefecture to Guam, but there are doubts over whether he will receive such a timeline, with one analyst calling the request “unreasonable” given the transfer’s logistical complexity.
Nakatani said the national government plans to alleviate the strain on the prefecture from hosting most US military facilities in Japan.
He did not, however, commit to providing Okinawa with a firm timetable for the relocation of American troops as part of a 2006 agreement, that would transfer 9,000 of the 19,000 US Marines stationed there to Guam.
“It is pretty unreasonable for the governor to request a timetable like that because the logistics involved in moving that many troops and all their equipment is extremely challenging,” said Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, associate professor in Tokyo International University’s Institute for International Strategy.
“This is a hugely complicated thing to do, especially at a time of worsening security challenges in the region,” he told This Week in Asia.
