The government is set to yield to a U.S.-preferred plan for relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station in Okinawa to break the deadlock in talks over the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan, government sources said Friday.
The sides have been at odds over two conflicting alternatives to an initial plan that hit an impasse. Washington has been pressing for an airstrip to be built within the reef just off the U.S. Marine Corps Camp Schwab in Nago, while Tokyo had wanted the runway constructed within the camp.
The U.S. has opposed Japan's proposal, claiming it would affect training and draw opposition from local residents.
Washington made clear its dissatisfaction with the stalemate by canceling U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's visit to Japan in late October, prompting the government to compromise, the sources said.
Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura, Defense Agency Director General Yoshinori Ono and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda are expected to meet on the issue early next week, according to the sources.
The initial relocation plan was to build a civilian-military airport with a 2,500-meter runway off the reef of Nago's Henoko district, where Camp Schwab is located. But construction has not started due mainly to strong local opposition and environmental concerns, resulting in the two alternative options.
Location aside, the two nations had basically agreed on constructing a military-only airstrip with just a 1,500-meter runway in order to reduce the local burden and shorten the completion period to about five years from the more than 10 years required in the initial plan.