Hatoyama hopes to resolve Futemma in time to 'deepen' alliance+

TOKYO, Jan. 18 Kyodo -
The Japan-U.S. security alliance will not further develop ''in a reliable
manner'' without settling the stalled bilateral issue of where to relocate the
U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa, Prime Minister Yukio
Hatoyama said Monday, one day before the two countries are to commemorate the
50th anniversary of the signing of their revised security treaty.
''We will at least resolve the Futemma relocation question adequately by May,''
he told reporters, reiterating his determination to settle the issue no later
than May. ''That will serve as a test and we will move ahead based on it.''
''Without resolving this Futemma question, I don't think we can move (forward)
the Japanese-U.S. security (alliance) in a reliable manner,'' he said.
Hatoyama, who has indicated a preference to steer a diplomatic course more
independent of the United States, reiterated that he hopes to deepen the
alliance to deal with not just security issues but ''various problems.''
On Tuesday, Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama will each issue a
statement to reaffirm the importance of the alliance and to express their
intention to deepen it further although bilateral ties remain under strain over
the base issue.
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, U.S.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates --
who comprise the members of the ''two-plus-two'' bilateral security committee
-- will also issue a joint statement.
Japan and the United States agreed to begin discussions on the deepening
process when Okada and Clinton met in Hawaii last week and are expected to
compile an interim report on it in a two-plus-two meeting to be held sometime
in the first half of this year, Japanese officials said.
The two countries are aiming to produce a final report during a meeting between
Hatoyama and Obama planned to be held on the fringes of the summit of the
Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama in November, the officials
said.
The Futemma issue has grown into a major polarizing factor between Japan and
the United States as Hatoyama's four-month-old government reviews the 2006 deal
stipulating the base's relocation to a less populated part of Okinawa
Prefecture.
Tokyo is studying the possibility of finding a new relocation site without
excluding the original plan, which Washington has urged Tokyo to stick to as
agreed on after years of negotiations.
The Social Democratic Party, a minor coalition partner in Hatoyama's
three-party government, has called for relocating Futemma outside of Okinawa or
abroad to reduce the burdens on the people of the prefecture, where the bulk of
U.S. military facilities in Japan are concentrated.
The relocation of Futemma and the eventual return of its land to Japan is part
of a broader bilateral agreement on the reconfiguration of U.S. forces in Japan
and is linked to the transfer of about 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam by
2014.
==Kyodo
2010-01-18 22:48:39