LOC10:06
07:06 GMT
TOKYO, May 23 (KUNA) -- Japan's Parliament on Wednesday enacted a law to
fund the realignment of US military forces in Japan and help shift 8,000 of
the 18,000 US Marines from the country to the US territory of Guam by 2014.
The bill, passed by the Upper House with majority support from the ruling
coalition, is designed to provide state subsidies to municipalities that host
or are located near bases where the US military presence is expected to be
substantial. It will be the first time that Tokyo shoulders costs for the
construction of another nation's military facility.
The law also allows the government-affiliated Japan Bank for International
Cooperation to extend loans or fund the transfer of US Marines from the
Japan's southernmost prefecture of Okinawa to Guam.
Japan, which has relied on the US to defend it for almost 60 years, has the
largest concentration of US military in Asia, with more than 50,000 troops at
bases throughout the country. About half the US military in Japan are located
in Okinawa, the nation's poorest prefecture.
The realignment of US forces in Japan is part of Washington's global move
to create a more flexible force. The plan also aims to step up security
cooperation between the US military and the Japanese troops to maintain
deterrence in Asia.(end)
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KUNA 231006 May 07NNNN