TOKYO \u2014 A controversial plan to\u00a0move\u00a0a\u00a0U.S. Marine Corps\u00a0base\u00a0within\u00a0Okinawa\u00a0in southern Japan has been pushed back by two\u00a0years, America’s top\u00a0military\u00a0official in the Pacific said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Adm. Harry Harris, head of the\u00a0U.S. Pacific Command, said Tuesday that the shift of the Futenma air station to a less congested part of\u00a0Okinawa\u00a0island would not happen until 2025 because work on a new facility has been delayed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It’s slowed,” he told a congressional committee in Washington. “It’s a little over two\u00a0years\u00a0late. … Now we’re looking at 2025 before that’s done.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project faces stiff opposition from both protesters and the Okinawan prefectural government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Japanese government is building the air station, which will extend over the water from another Marine Corps\u00a0base\u00a0near the town of Henoko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Survey work for the new facility is underway, but Japan suspended it for about two months last\u00a0year\u00a0in an unsuccessful attempt to work out a compromise with the Okinawan government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0U.S. and Japan agreed to\u00a0move\u00a0the air station from crowded Ginowan city to reduce the burden of the heavy\u00a0U.S.\u00a0military\u00a0presence on\u00a0Okinawa\u00a0residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Opponents want the\u00a0base\u00a0moved\u00a0off\u00a0Okinawa\u00a0entirely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\u00a0U.S. has agreed to shift 8,000 to 10,000 Marines off\u00a0Okinawa\u00a0in the 2020s, mainly to Guam and Hawaii, but Harris said that would happen as “a follow-on” to the\u00a0move\u00a0from Futenma to Henoko.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“We have an obligation to defend Japan, and they have an obligation to provide\u00a0us\u00a0a place from which to defend them,” he said. “And\u00a0Okinawa\u00a0is one of those critical places where we must be in order to meet our treaty obligations to defend Japan.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A controversial plan to move a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa has been pushed back by two years.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":64346,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":69,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,69],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1947],"class_list":["post-32132","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-marine-corps"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"WIKDLQFAYJHFPGSNC6NPV73QWU","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2016\/02\/24\/pacom-chief-u-s-marine-corps-base-in-okinawa-won-t-move-until-2025\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n