U.S. forces modify unit relocation from Okinawa to Guam with China in mind

TOKYO — The U.S. Marine Corps has modified its reorganization plan to move a unit in Okinawa to Guam to maintain deterrence against China with a potential Taiwan contingency in mind, Kyodo News learned Friday, potentially affecting a Tokyo-Washington relocation deal.

The U.S. strategic document "Force Design" updated in October said that the fourth Marine Regiment based in Nago in Okinawa "will be retained" in the Marine Corps' III Marine Expeditionary Force headquartered in Uruma in the southern island prefecture "as a reinforced Marine Infantry Regiment."

The unit will also be "preserving its core mission while preparing to respond to potential crisis and conflict," it said.

Originally, the fourth regiment was planned to be moved to Guam and remodeled into a smaller-sized littoral regiment capable of flexibly deploying small groups of Marines to remote islands for securing footholds to attack enemies.

However, given the distance of nearly 3,000 kilometers from Guam to Taiwan, compared to about 500 km from Okinawa's main island, some within the U.S. forces have opposed the relocation plan, according to a source close to the matter.

Viewing self-ruled democratic Taiwan as a breakaway province to be eventually reunified with the mainland, China has been boosting what the U.S. government calls "anti-access and area denial" capabilities to prevent U.S. forces from coming within striking distance of its territory.

The Marine Corps has told Kyodo News that the retention of the regiment "aligns with our commitment to support allies and partners while communicating to adversaries that the Marine Corps is postured to take consequential action to maintain peace and stability in the region."

Following changes in the international security environment such as the end of Cold War, Japan and the United States agreed on the U.S. forces realignment road map in 2006, in an effort to reduce the base-hosting burden on Okinawa while maintaining military deterrence.

At the core of the road map were transferring the Marines from Okinawa to Guam and relocating the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station from the residential district of Ginowan to the less densely populated Henoko coastal area in Nago, both within Okinawa.

But in 2012, Tokyo and Washington decided to "delink" the two centerpiece projects amid slow progress on the Futenma project, with Okinawans calling for the base to be moved out of the prefecture.

They also agreed to relocate some 9,000 of around 19,000 Marines in Okinawa to locations outside of Japan, including 4,000 to Guam. In December last year, about 100 logistics personnel began to move as the first batch of the transfer.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara, Japan's top government spokesman, has told Kyodo News that the existing bilateral agreement "remains unchanged."

© KYODO