US military tries to woo Okinawa with biggest land return since 1972

The United States military said on Friday it was preparing for the biggest land return in Okinawa since 1972, as it faces a surge in opposition to its presence following the arrest of one its civilian contractors for the murder of a local woman.

Okinawa is the US military’s key base in Asia where it can keep China in check. It hosts 30,000 military personnel on bases that cover a fifth of the island.

“We are respectful of the feelings of Okinawans that our footprint must be reduced,” Lieutenant General Lawrence Nicholson, the US commander on the island, said in a press release.

Once new helipads are completed, the US military will hand back 40 sq km of land to the Japanese government, which is 17 per cent of the area it controls.

The tract is part of the US Marine Corp jungle training camp known as Camp Gonsalves in Northern Okinawa.