ID :
101690
Fri, 01/22/2010 - 07:29
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/101690
The shortlink copeid
Hatoyama to aim for accord with U.S. on Futemma relocation by May+
TOKYO, Jan. 21 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Thursday he will seek to reach an agreement with the United States by the end of May on where to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa.
''There is no way we can craft a Japanese government proposal without
coordinating with the United States,'' he told reporters. ''We will decide on
our policy as a government by the end of May.''
The remark was an attempt to clear up any confusion sown by Chief Cabinet
Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, who indicated earlier in the day that a settlement
of the row with Washington over the matter could take longer.
The United States has pressed Japan to follow through on a 2006 deal to move
the Futemma facility to a less populated part of Okinawa, but Tokyo has been
exploring alternatives without excluding the original plan.
Hatoyama also said he instructed Hirano to make sure a government committee
studying the Futemma issue will decide on a relocation site by the end of May.
At a meeting Thursday, panel members decided, however, to postpone presenting
their relocation plans until the first half of February from the end of this
month, said Mikio Shimoji, policy chief of the People's New Party, which is
part of Hatoyama's tripartite coalition government.
Members from the three parties were originally scheduled to present their
respective plans by the end of January, but the panel found it appropriate to
push back the deadline given a delay in studying alternative sites, Shimoji
told reporters.
Arrangements will now be made for panel members to visit the Pacific island of
Guam, an alternative site being suggested by the Social Democratic Party in
advocating moving the Futemma facility outside of Okinawa Prefecture or abroad,
he also said.
Defense Ministry officials, meanwhile, explained in the meeting how other
places in Okinawa than the one in the existing plan had been excluded from
consideration during past bilateral talks, another participant said.
==Kyodo
''There is no way we can craft a Japanese government proposal without
coordinating with the United States,'' he told reporters. ''We will decide on
our policy as a government by the end of May.''
The remark was an attempt to clear up any confusion sown by Chief Cabinet
Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, who indicated earlier in the day that a settlement
of the row with Washington over the matter could take longer.
The United States has pressed Japan to follow through on a 2006 deal to move
the Futemma facility to a less populated part of Okinawa, but Tokyo has been
exploring alternatives without excluding the original plan.
Hatoyama also said he instructed Hirano to make sure a government committee
studying the Futemma issue will decide on a relocation site by the end of May.
At a meeting Thursday, panel members decided, however, to postpone presenting
their relocation plans until the first half of February from the end of this
month, said Mikio Shimoji, policy chief of the People's New Party, which is
part of Hatoyama's tripartite coalition government.
Members from the three parties were originally scheduled to present their
respective plans by the end of January, but the panel found it appropriate to
push back the deadline given a delay in studying alternative sites, Shimoji
told reporters.
Arrangements will now be made for panel members to visit the Pacific island of
Guam, an alternative site being suggested by the Social Democratic Party in
advocating moving the Futemma facility outside of Okinawa Prefecture or abroad,
he also said.
Defense Ministry officials, meanwhile, explained in the meeting how other
places in Okinawa than the one in the existing plan had been excluded from
consideration during past bilateral talks, another participant said.
==Kyodo
