Thom Shaker
L’accordo tra i ministri degli Esteri e della Difesa americani e giapponesi dimostra la volontà del Giappone di assumere un ruolo più rilevante nelle missioni di sicurezza globali. L’incontro è avvenuto mentre il Giappone, per la prima volta dalla Seconda guerra mondiale, dispiega le sue forze militari in Irak, un’area in guerra, come parte di una missione umanitaria.
Il ministro della Difesa giapponese Yoshinori Ono, direttore generale dell’Agenzia per la Difesa, ha dichiarato che il Giappone è pronto ad andare oltre la difesa territoriale per assumere un ruolo più rilevante a livello internazionale, per scopi umanitari o di ricostruzione, o di supporto logistico.
In seguito al presente accordo gli USA ritireranno 7 000 dei 50 000 militari di stanza ad Okinawa, alcune unità della marina saranno spostate da Okinawa a Guam, un’isola americana nel Pacifico che sta assumendo una crescente importanza strategica.
L’aviazione militare americana verrà tolta da Futenma Marine Corps Station nella parte meridionale di Okinawa, un’area ora fortemente urbanizzata, spostandola in gran parte molto più a nord, nella base già esistente di Camp Schwab.
Il Giappone ha anche accettato di accogliere nel 2008 una portaerei americana della classe Nimtiz a Yokosuka, 30 miglia da Tokyo; è la prima volta che una portaerei a propulsione nucleare può utilizzare il Giappone come base.
Secondo l’accordo gli USA installeranno in Giappone un nuovo sistema radar a raggi X, parte di una difesa missilistica che identifica e rintraccia i missili in arrivo. Il Nord Corea riuscì nel 1998 a lanciare un missile sopra il Giappone.
Il ricollocamento delle forze americane in Giappone e la ristrutturazione dei quartieri generali di entrambi i paesi avverranno entro sei anni.
Nyt 05-10-30
U.S. and Japan Agree to Strengthen Military Ties
By THOM SHANKER
WASHINGTON, Oct. 29 – The United States and Japan announced Saturday a sweeping agreement to reshape their military alliance, including the reduction of marines on Okinawa and the construction of a new generation of radar equipment in Japan as part of a missile defense system.
After a morning meeting of the two nations’ foreign and defense ministers and secretaries, a joint agreement was released calling on Japan to accept more responsibility for its own defense, and requiring the United States and Japan to further integrate planning in case of conflict. The two sides agreed to greater sharing of intelligence and to expand joint military training and exercises.
The document is yet another step in the evolution of modern Japan, which has already grown from a defeated adversary to an occupied nation to an economic powerhouse under the American security umbrella.
The agreement and subsequent statements gave a clear indication of Japan’s desire to take an even greater role in global security missions within constitutional constraints imposed at the end of World War II. The meeting came as Japan has troops on a humanitarian mission in Iraq, the first time Tokyo has deployed its forces into a combat zone since World War II.
At a Pentagon news conference, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said the agreement would "ensure a durable, more balanced and surely more capable alliance."
His counterpart, Yoshinori Ono, the director general of the Japanese Defense Agency, said that Japan is ready to move beyond territorial defense to play a greater role in contributing to "peace and security around the world."
But Mr. Ono said Japanese military missions across Asia or around the globe would be for humanitarian and reconstruction efforts, or for logistical support to counterterrorism missions conducted with the United States.
Although the use of the Japanese military beyond its territorial waters has been a striking extension for a nation that accepted pacifist limits in its postwar Constitution, Japan still would not insert combat troops into combat operations outside Japan.
Ending a decade of negotiations on the placement of American troops within Japan, the agreement seeks to remove a severe irritant in relations by reducing American military personnel on Okinawa, where residents complain of noise and crime.
The number of American military personnel in Japan, now about 50,000, will fall by 7,000 with the relocation of some Marine Corps units from Okinawa to Guam.
Anger among Okinawans at the American military reached near-crisis levels in 1995, when a local schoolgirl was raped by American servicemen.
The move also has significance for Guam, an American territory that is taking on increasing strategic importance in the Pacific.
The agreement calls on Japan to deploy the American X-band radar, a part of missile defense that identifies and tracks incoming warheads. North Korea fired a missile over Japan in 1998, shocking the public there.
The relocation of American forces on Japan and the reshaping of bilateral military headquarters is to be completed in six years. The cost of all movements of American forces in Japan will be paid by the Japanese government; no cost estimate was released Saturday at the conclusion of talks among Mr. Rumsfeld, Mr. Ono, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the Japanese foreign minister, Nobutaku Machimura. President Bush is to visit Japan next month.
American and Japanese officials also announced an agreement to remove American aircraft from Futenma Marine Air Corps Station in a southern part of Okinawa that is now highly urban. A large part of the aircraft and crews will move to expanded facilities at an existing base, Camp Schwab, farther north.
The Pentagon news conference was held a day after Japan announced it had agreed to base a Nimitz-class American aircraft carrier in Yokosuka, 30 miles south of Tokyo, in 2008, the first time a nuclear-powered carrier has been allowed to use Japan as its home port.
The Japanese public is especially concerned about the basing of nuclear-powered warships in its territory because Japan is the only country ever attacked with atomic weapons.
Copyright 2005 The New York
