ID :
120845
Sat, 05/08/2010 - 11:47
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/120845
The shortlink copeid
Island heads reject Hatoyama's request to host U.S. base functions+
TOKYO, May 7 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Friday asked mayors from Tokunoshima Island to
accommodate some functions of a major U.S. military base in Okinawa Prefecture,
only to be rebuffed by the local leaders three days after failing to win over
Okinawa leaders about leaving the base's other functions there.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiforumi Hirano, meanwhile, said Hatoyama may visit
Okinawa again, possibly on May 15, to explain the details of a relocation plan
for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station, which includes building a
pile-supported facility in Nago on the coast of the Marines' Camp Schwab. But
several government sources said later Friday that the prime minister has put
off the trip.
The prospects for Hatoyama settling the issue by his self-imposed deadline of
May 31 became dimmer as he faced a growing backlash within his governing
coalition. The head of the People's New Party on Friday joined the leader of
Hatoyama's other coalition partner, the Social Democratic Party, in criticizing
a key relocation plan.
The government led by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan is seeking to
slightly modify an existing plan agreed in 2006 by a Liberal Democratic Party
government and the United States, while transferring some drills from the base
to the Kagoshima Prefecture island.
''I would be grateful if you accept some of the functions of the Futemma Air
Station,'' Hatoyama said during hour-long talks with the mayors at his office
in the afternoon, while apologizing for having long kept them in the dark and
causing them concern amid floods of media reports about the plan.
''I've come to understand that it is not realistic to relocate all of Futemma
(functions outside the prefecture),'' he said. ''As I thought about
coordination with the Marine ground troops, I learnt it would be impossible to
find a relocation site too far (from Okinawa).''
But the mayors made it clear that they will never accept any U.S. military
facility or drills, noting that a base could have an impact on the local
environment and farming.
''I would like you to understand that Tokunoshima is full of anxiety,'' Hideki
Takaoka, mayor of the town of Tokunoshima, said at the meeting, while Isen
Mayor Akira Okubo said, ''The biggest role that the prime minister should play
is to develop a debate toward reducing arms'' instead of moving the base around
within Japan.
Okubo told a press conference afterward he has no intention of meeting with the
premier again as he doubts that further rounds of talks would help to pave the
way for a resolution and public sentiment against building any facility will
never change.
But Hatoyama told reporters later in the evening that he is still eager to
visit Tokunoshima to continue the dialogue.
''I believe that what I can do is simply to make faithful efforts (to gain
their understanding),'' Hatoyama said. ''As someone has to protect Japan's
national security, I would like to continue to exchange opinions (with
Tokunoshima).''
Regarding a second trip to Okinawa by Hatoyama, top government spokesman Hirano
told a press conference, ''It has yet to be decided if he (Hatoyama) will visit
(Okinawa) on May 15, but arrangements are currently under way'' for him to
visit the prefecture again.
Before the government sources revealed Hatoyama's decision to push back the
planned trip, there was speculation that the prime minister, who on Tuesday
visited Okinawa for the first time since taking office last September, could
make a second trip to the island prefecture on May 15, the 38th anniversary of
Okinawa's reversion from U.S. control.
Hirano said the premier will likely brief local residents on the details of a
relocation plan on his next trip as he did not mention any specifics during his
meetings Tuesday with local leaders including Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima.
Hatoyama told the local leaders that he had determined it is impossible to move
all the Futemma functions out of Okinawa because of the need to maintain U.S.
deterrence in Asia and asked them to continue to share some of the burden,
reversing his earlier promise to completely relocate the functions outside of
Okinawa.
As part of his efforts to reduce the burden on Okinawa of hosting the bulk of
the U.S. forces in Japan, Hatoyama was apparently considering asking Washington
to deploy Marine MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft at Tokunoshima airport on the
island about 200 kilometers northeast of Okinawa, instead of Futemma where the
U.S. side plans to introduce the planes possibly in 2012.
But the premier has likely given up on the idea as Washington has firmly
opposed it, citing the need to operate the Marine helicopter unit and ground
troops in an integrated manner, according to sources close to Japan-U.S.
relations.
He is thus focusing on the relocation of some drills to Tokunoshima, which has
a population of 27,000.
Also on Friday, Shizuka Kamei, head of the DPJ's coalition partner, the
People's New Party, said he thinks the relocation of the Futemma facility to
the coastal area in Nago will not occur, apparently in an attempt to prevent
the government from settling on a plan to build a facility there.
SDP head Mizuho Fukushima also reiterated her opposition to relocating the base
within Okinawa, saying in a press conference that many residents in Okinawa
will be unhappy to see any U.S. military base constructed in the sea off the
Henoko area in Nago.
==Kyodo
2010-05-07 23:22:25