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Reports say Japan to station troops on Tinian
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Posted on Apr 20 2012
By Haidee V. Eugenio
Reporter
Reporter
Japanese media reported yesterday that the Japanese government is planning to station its own self-defense forces on Tinian where two-thirds of lands are already leased by the U.S. Department of Defense from the CNMI government.
But press secretary Angel Demapan said yesterday that the Fitial administration is not aware of such plan by the Japanese government.
Gov. Benigno R. Fitial asked U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta to renegotiate the existing land lease on Tinian because he said none of Defense’s promised developments on Tinian has materialized for 35 years.
However, some 200 U.S. Marines from Japan will be training on Tinian in May, the first major military training on the island for at least a decade.
One of the Japanese media reporting on the issue of having a Japanese military station on Tinian is Nikkei news agency, quoting unnamed sources. It reported that no final decision has been reached yet but its sources said Japan would lease a portion of the U.S. Defense-controlled land on Tinian and rotate Japanese military personnel from all three Japan Self-Defense Force branches-ground, sea, and air.
Nikkei said Guam was also considered, but space constraints led to the selection of Tinian, one of the major islands in the CNMI.
Tinian played a pivotal role during World War II. It was the launching pad for the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hastening the end of the war.
Just last week, Japanese media also reported that Washington, D.C. is considering Tokyo’s proposal to shoulder part of its expenses for the development of a U.S. military base and related facilities on Tinian.
The Yomiuri Shimbun reported that “Tokyo apparently made the proposal to fend off Washington’s demand that Japan increase its share of the costs of the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The realignment is currently under review.” The Japanese media quoted sources close to Japan-U.S. relations.
