Trip Coincides With 50th Anniversary Of US-Japan Security Alliance

By Jeff Marchesseault

GUAM - The Island of Guam is at the heart of two major issues that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will address during her whirlwind trip across the Pacific this week: (1) the transfer of U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam and (2) the strength of the U.S.-Australia cooperative defense alliance.

During her visit with Japan Defense Minister Katsuya Okada in Hawaii, she will address the status of the longstanding U.S.-Japan security alliance, pressing regional security issues, and the contentious issue of transferring Marines from Okinawa to Guam as part of a larger realignment of U.S. forces in the Pacific.

Media reports continue to swirl with speculation about whether a U.S. heliport in Okinawa will be transferred to Guam along with as many as 8,600 Marines and their families, according to the wishes of the Japan government's junior coalition partners. But there is already a tacit realization by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and members of his ruling Democratic Party of Japan that moving Marine Corps Air Base Futenma anywhere outside of Japan will compromise the power of U.S. deterrence in Pacific Asia. Furthermore, the U.S. has never wavered from its assertion that after a near-20-year period of research, planning and conclusive bilateral understanding and agreement between the governments of Japan and the United States, there is no viable alternative to moving the base from its present site in a crowded metropolitan area of Okinawa to a certain remote northern peninsula on the same island. And the U.S. has also yet to proffer any proposal that would move Futenma's air base to Guam.

During her travels, Clinton and U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates will visit with officials in Australia and New Zealand to address security issues germaine to the mutual interests of the three nations. Specifically, Clinton and Gates will represent the United States during the 25th Australia-New Zealand Ministerial Consultations in Canberra to address "global and regional security challenges", according to a press release filed at Media-Newswire.com. Guam's role in the U.S.-Australia defense alliance has seen active engagement. As late as December 27-28, Andersen Air Force Base supported Australia's East Coast Air Defense Exercise (ECADEX) with KC-135 Stratotanker refueling vessels and B-52 Stratofortress bombers.

To kick off her trip, Clinton is scheduled to speak at the East-West Center in Honolulu. According to the news release, Clinton will address Asia-Pacific multilateral engagement with the United States. According to Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, after spending months in deep consultation with Asia-Pacific allies, "it's appropriate for the United States to step up and play a more active role in some of the institutional thinking and engagement in the region." Campbell's assertion supports Secretary Gates' outlook that the U.S. is a "resident power in Asia."

Read the Khaleej Times Online story, "Clinton to talk bases, security on Pacific swing", January 11, 2010.

Read the Xinhua.net article, "Clinton heads to Pacific, talking with Japanese FM on base, January 12, 2010.

Read the Pacific Daily News story, "Japan: Relocate Futenma to Guam", January 12, 2009.

Read the Guam News Factor story, "Chief Master Sgt To Guam Airmen: Get Ready To Secure Afghanistan", Monday, January 11, 2010.

Read the Guam News Factor story, "Air Units Fly To Guam To Support Wars In Iraq And Afghanistan, Saturday, January 9, 2010.

Here is an overview of Clinton's travel agenda:

(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington — During a stop in Hawaii that is part of a broader trip to the Asia-Pacific region, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to discuss with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada the future of a U.S. military base on the island of Okinawa, along with other pressing regional security issues, says Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell.

"I would expect this to be a very deep and extensive interaction," Campbell said during a pre-trip briefing with reporters at the Washington Foreign Press Center January 7. "We will talk about the security alliance. We will talk about Okinawa and Futenma [Marine Corps Air Station]."

Campbell, who is the assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the talks will include new developments on the Korean Peninsula and North Korea, recent engagement with China, Iran's nuclear weapons development program, Burma and related security issues.

Clinton is traveling in the Asia-Pacific region January 12–19. Her trip will include a visit to Hawaii, where she will make a major address on U.S. policies for the Asia-Pacific region; Papua New Guinea, to discuss issues affecting Pacific island nations; and Australia and New Zealand, where she will be joined by Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss specific security issues. Australia and New Zealand have contributed military forces to operations in Afghanistan.

MARINE BASE RELOCATION

The United States and Japan have agreed to set up a high-level working group to focus on implementation of a 2006 agreement to relocate the U.S. Marine Air Station at Futenma on Okinawa. The air crews and aircraft would be relocated to expanded facilities at Camp Schwab, which is near Nago, a less populous area on Okinawa.

The Marine air station and most U.S. military facilities in Japan were established under the 1960 U.S.-Japan Status of Forces Agreement. The Okinawa facilities account for approximately 65 percent of U.S. forces currently in Japan.

In addition to the air station agreement, the United States has agreed to move the Third Marine Expeditionary Force, which includes 8,000 Marines and their families, from Futenma to expanded facilities on Guam. Under the terms of the agreement, Japan agreed to pay $6.09 billion of the estimated $10.27 billion in costs associated with the move, according to a U.S. Congressional Research Service report on U.S.-Japanese relations.

Campbell said Clinton and Okada will focus on what has been accomplished over the past 50 years in the joint security alliance, and also on where the alliance is going.

"This alliance for the United States and ... for Japan is indispensable, and we need to work closely to sustain its health and vitality moving forward," he said. The 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan Security Alliance is January 19.

MULTILATERAL ENGAGEMENT

Clinton will speak at the East-West Center in Honolulu January 12 on Asia-Pacific multilateral engagement with the United States.

"We've been working for a considerable period of time and involved for months in a deep process of consultations with our allies and friends in the Asian-Pacific region," Campbell said. "I think we've come to the conclusion that it's appropriate for the United States to step up and play a more active role in some of the institutional thinking and engagement in the region."

The process over the next couple of months, he added, is to deepen consultations and expand multilateral relations.

While in Honolulu, Clinton also will meet with officials of the U.S. Pacific Command to discuss regional security issues.

During the Australian and New Zealand portion of her trip, Clinton — along with Gates — will participate in the 25th Australia-New Zealand Ministerial Consultations to discuss global and regional security challenges, State Department spokesman Ian Kelly said January 6.

The U.S. officials will meet January 17–19 with Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith and Australian Defense Minister John Faulkner in Australia's capital, Canberra.

Clinton's Pacific trip will also include a stop in Papua New Guinea on January 14, where she will meet with officials as well as with local civil society leaders to discuss environmental protection and women's empowerment.

"She will have an opportunity to view some projects that are involved with sustaining one of the most diverse biological habitats on the planet," Campbell said.

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