ID :
118542
Sat, 04/24/2010 - 21:57
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/118542
The shortlink copeid
Okada says Japan would broadly accept current relocation plan: report+
WASHINGTON, April 24 Kyodo -
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has indicated that Japan would broadly accept an
existing plan to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa Prefecture,
the Washington Post reported Saturday in its online edition.
But the report was immediately denied by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
and Okada, with the foreign minister saying it is ''not true.''
According to the Washington Post, Okada presented a proposal in his meeting on
Friday with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos and said that Japan is moving
toward accepting significant parts of a 2006 bilateral deal to move the Futemma
Air Station to a coastal area in the island prefecture.
Okada, however, suggested some modifications, such as altering the design of
the runway for the new air station in the Henoko coastal area in the city of
Nago, the newspaper said quoting U.S. and Japanese officials who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
While noting that the move is ''a first step,'' U.S. officials said Japanese
officials will provide more details next week, it said.
In Japan, Hatoyama told reporters in Gunma Prefecture that the report is ''not
exactly true,'' although he acknowledged that Okada and Roos held talks Friday.
He added that Japan should not accept the existing plan as reclaiming the
coastal area of Henoko would be detrimental to the local environment.
The meeting between Okada and Roos followed brief talks between Hatoyama and
U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington earlier this month during a working
dinner for the Nuclear Security Summit.
Hatoyama said during the talks he called for Obama's cooperation on deciding
where to relocate the Futemma base but did not mention by name any prospective
relocation site.
Under the 2006 bilateral agreement, forged as part of the realignment of U.S.
forces in Japan, Futemma's heliport functions would be moved from the densely
populated city of Ginowan in Okinawa to a coastal area of the Marines' Camp
Schwab in Nago in the same prefecture.
Hatoyama is seeking to resolve by the end of May a dispute over where to
relocate the Futemma facility and ideas including relocating the base to
Tokunoshima, a Kagoshima Prefecture island about 200 kilometers northeast of
the main island of Okinawa, have been floated.
The government led by the Democratic Party of Japan has met strong opposition
to potential relocation plans from residents and local assembly members in
Okinawa and Kagoshima.
A major protest rally in Okinawa to call for the removal of the base from the
prefecture is scheduled for Sunday.
Members of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly, excluding assembly groups of the
DPJ, have decided to hold a rally on May 8 in the city of Kagoshima to oppose
the idea of relocating the base to Tokunoshima.
==Kyodo
Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada has indicated that Japan would broadly accept an
existing plan to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa Prefecture,
the Washington Post reported Saturday in its online edition.
But the report was immediately denied by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
and Okada, with the foreign minister saying it is ''not true.''
According to the Washington Post, Okada presented a proposal in his meeting on
Friday with U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos and said that Japan is moving
toward accepting significant parts of a 2006 bilateral deal to move the Futemma
Air Station to a coastal area in the island prefecture.
Okada, however, suggested some modifications, such as altering the design of
the runway for the new air station in the Henoko coastal area in the city of
Nago, the newspaper said quoting U.S. and Japanese officials who spoke on
condition of anonymity.
While noting that the move is ''a first step,'' U.S. officials said Japanese
officials will provide more details next week, it said.
In Japan, Hatoyama told reporters in Gunma Prefecture that the report is ''not
exactly true,'' although he acknowledged that Okada and Roos held talks Friday.
He added that Japan should not accept the existing plan as reclaiming the
coastal area of Henoko would be detrimental to the local environment.
The meeting between Okada and Roos followed brief talks between Hatoyama and
U.S. President Barack Obama in Washington earlier this month during a working
dinner for the Nuclear Security Summit.
Hatoyama said during the talks he called for Obama's cooperation on deciding
where to relocate the Futemma base but did not mention by name any prospective
relocation site.
Under the 2006 bilateral agreement, forged as part of the realignment of U.S.
forces in Japan, Futemma's heliport functions would be moved from the densely
populated city of Ginowan in Okinawa to a coastal area of the Marines' Camp
Schwab in Nago in the same prefecture.
Hatoyama is seeking to resolve by the end of May a dispute over where to
relocate the Futemma facility and ideas including relocating the base to
Tokunoshima, a Kagoshima Prefecture island about 200 kilometers northeast of
the main island of Okinawa, have been floated.
The government led by the Democratic Party of Japan has met strong opposition
to potential relocation plans from residents and local assembly members in
Okinawa and Kagoshima.
A major protest rally in Okinawa to call for the removal of the base from the
prefecture is scheduled for Sunday.
Members of the Kagoshima prefectural assembly, excluding assembly groups of the
DPJ, have decided to hold a rally on May 8 in the city of Kagoshima to oppose
the idea of relocating the base to Tokunoshima.
==Kyodo
