In a new article by Kimi Tsuruta for Medill National Security Zone, Yuki Tatsumi provides her expert input on the U.S.-Japan military alliance and the challenges of stationing U.S. troops in Okinawa. In “A New U.S.-Japan Military Alliance Starts Choppy,” Tsuruta describes how tension over US troop presence in Okinawa remains even after the Security Consultative Committee Joint Statement in May 2012 provided a compromise to the US and Japan’s long-running deadlock. The SCC “2+2” agreement appeased local Okinawans by ‘delinking’ the transfer of US Marines from the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, helping to speed up the process. However, tension still remains, as Okinawan locals are now opposing the recent announcement that the US will deploy the controversial V-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft.
Click here to read the article.