ID :
101451
Thu, 01/21/2010 - 07:48
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/101451
The shortlink copeid
Obama urges renewal of alliance with Japan despite base row+
WASHINGTON, Jan. 19 Kyodo - U.S. President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged a renewal and bolstering of the U.S.-Japan alliance, as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the current security treaty amid a rift over the relocation of a
U.S. air base.
''America's commitment to Japan's security is unshakable, and our cooperation
to meet common challenges is a critical part of our engagement with the
world,'' Obama said in a statement.
''And just as we honor the countless Americans and Japanese who have built the
ties that bind our nations, we also look to the future with a determination to
build upon the foundation of their progress,'' he said.
Obama trumpeted the benefits of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security
signed on Jan. 19, 1960, despite a stalemate over where to relocate the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, which is casting a
shadow over the bilateral alliance.
''The enduring partnership between the United States of America and Japan has
helped bring unprecedented prosperity and peace in freedom to our nations,'' he
said.
''Our alliance has secured extraordinary benefits for the entire Asia Pacific
region and made possible the unparalleled progress of the past five decades,''
he said.
In actuality, however, the bilateral alliance has been strained ever since
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan realized a historic
change of power last September on a platform of what it calls more ''equal''
Japan-U.S. ties.
The Hatoyama government is reviewing a bilateral deal on the relocation issue
until May, indicating that Tokyo could renege on the previously agreed plan to
transfer Futemma's heliport functions to another site in Okinawa.
Washington has been pressing Tokyo to stick to the 2006 deal, under which the
Futemma facility would be moved from a crowded residential area to a less
densely populated district in Okinawa by 2014.
But Hatoyama has delayed the decision and is looking into the possibility of an
alternative relocation site, including out of Okinawa or even outside the
country.
The 2006 deal is part of a broader agreement on the reconfiguration of U.S.
forces stationed in Japan, including the transfer of some 8,000 Marines
stationed in the southernmost prefecture to Guam.
Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs,
said Tuesday he will visit Japan in early February for talks with government
officials and senior ruling party lawmakers on bilateral relations, including
the Futemma issue.
He brushed off the detrimental effects on the bilateral relations from the feud
over Futemma, comparing it with the tension between the two nations over the
rape of a young schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa about 15 years ago.
''This is nothing in comparison to what we faced in 1995 and 1996...I would
argue with you that we are in a much stronger, very stable and ultimately
strong position for the continuation of the U.S.-Japan security relationship,''
he said.
Campbell expressed confidence that the Futemma issue can be solved through
dialogue and that as a result, the bilateral relationship will be on a more
solid footing.
''We need to make clear that our primary focus is to look forward and to work
together with Japan to make sure that this alliance maintains its critical role
in the years ahead,'' he said.
''I think we're very confident we're going to get through this, and at the end
of it, be stronger because of the process,'' he said.
The current bilateral security treaty rectified the ''inequality'' in the 1951
treaty by deleting from the original document a clause under which the United
States can intervene in times of insurrection in Japan.
The revised treaty also clarified the U.S. obligation to defend Japan in the
event of an armed attack and allowed the United States to use bases in Japan.
But it does not oblige Tokyo to defend Washington if the latter is attacked.
In 1996, the two countries signed the Japan-U.S. Joint Declaration on Security,
an add-on to the treaty that expanded the alliance's scope -- which had been
configured for the Cold War era -- to one encompassing the entire Asia-Pacific
region.
==Kyodo
2010-01-20 22:20:51
U.S. air base.
''America's commitment to Japan's security is unshakable, and our cooperation
to meet common challenges is a critical part of our engagement with the
world,'' Obama said in a statement.
''And just as we honor the countless Americans and Japanese who have built the
ties that bind our nations, we also look to the future with a determination to
build upon the foundation of their progress,'' he said.
Obama trumpeted the benefits of the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security
signed on Jan. 19, 1960, despite a stalemate over where to relocate the U.S.
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture, which is casting a
shadow over the bilateral alliance.
''The enduring partnership between the United States of America and Japan has
helped bring unprecedented prosperity and peace in freedom to our nations,'' he
said.
''Our alliance has secured extraordinary benefits for the entire Asia Pacific
region and made possible the unparalleled progress of the past five decades,''
he said.
In actuality, however, the bilateral alliance has been strained ever since
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan realized a historic
change of power last September on a platform of what it calls more ''equal''
Japan-U.S. ties.
The Hatoyama government is reviewing a bilateral deal on the relocation issue
until May, indicating that Tokyo could renege on the previously agreed plan to
transfer Futemma's heliport functions to another site in Okinawa.
Washington has been pressing Tokyo to stick to the 2006 deal, under which the
Futemma facility would be moved from a crowded residential area to a less
densely populated district in Okinawa by 2014.
But Hatoyama has delayed the decision and is looking into the possibility of an
alternative relocation site, including out of Okinawa or even outside the
country.
The 2006 deal is part of a broader agreement on the reconfiguration of U.S.
forces stationed in Japan, including the transfer of some 8,000 Marines
stationed in the southernmost prefecture to Guam.
Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs,
said Tuesday he will visit Japan in early February for talks with government
officials and senior ruling party lawmakers on bilateral relations, including
the Futemma issue.
He brushed off the detrimental effects on the bilateral relations from the feud
over Futemma, comparing it with the tension between the two nations over the
rape of a young schoolgirl by U.S. servicemen in Okinawa about 15 years ago.
''This is nothing in comparison to what we faced in 1995 and 1996...I would
argue with you that we are in a much stronger, very stable and ultimately
strong position for the continuation of the U.S.-Japan security relationship,''
he said.
Campbell expressed confidence that the Futemma issue can be solved through
dialogue and that as a result, the bilateral relationship will be on a more
solid footing.
''We need to make clear that our primary focus is to look forward and to work
together with Japan to make sure that this alliance maintains its critical role
in the years ahead,'' he said.
''I think we're very confident we're going to get through this, and at the end
of it, be stronger because of the process,'' he said.
The current bilateral security treaty rectified the ''inequality'' in the 1951
treaty by deleting from the original document a clause under which the United
States can intervene in times of insurrection in Japan.
The revised treaty also clarified the U.S. obligation to defend Japan in the
event of an armed attack and allowed the United States to use bases in Japan.
But it does not oblige Tokyo to defend Washington if the latter is attacked.
In 1996, the two countries signed the Japan-U.S. Joint Declaration on Security,
an add-on to the treaty that expanded the alliance's scope -- which had been
configured for the Cold War era -- to one encompassing the entire Asia-Pacific
region.
==Kyodo
2010-01-20 22:20:51
