Hatoyama says ties with U.S. weighed heavily on base decision+

TOKYO, May 24 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said Monday that maintaining a trusting
relationship with the United States was paramount in determining his
government's plan to relocate a U.S. Marine Corps base within Okinawa
Prefecture, despite his determination to move it ''at least'' outside of there.
''I decided that it is of utmost importance that we place the Japan-U.S.
relationship on a solid footing of mutual trust, considering the current
situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Asia,'' Hatoyama told reporters in the
morning outside his residence, a day after visiting Okinawa Prefecture.
On Sunday, Hatoyama revealed for the first time his government's plan to
relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station to an area near the Henoko
district in Nago, offering apologies to people in Okinawa for failing to make
good on his earlier vow to move the facility outside the prefecture.
The latest idea is effectively in line with an existing relocation plan under a
2006 Japan-U.S. accord aimed at transferring the Futemma functions to the
reclaimed land near the coast of the district, while relocating around 8,000
Marines to Guam from Okinawa, both by 2014.
Hatoyama's proposal has met with strong opposition from people in Okinawa and
one of the ruling coalition partners, the Social Democratic Party.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said Monday the government has already
explained the relocation plan informally to the Democratic Party of Japan's two
small coalition partners and ''without question this week will be in the
process of winning their support.''
SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima is planning to visit Okinawa on Tuesday to hold
talks with Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima, according to party members.
Fukushima has indicated the likelihood of her party leaving the three-way
coalition government if Hatoyama fails to move the air base outside the
prefecture.
She is expected to build up pressure on Hatoyama not to go ahead with moving
most of the Futemma functions within the prefecture after confirming the
position of Nakaima, who told Hatoyama on Sunday it would be ''extremely
difficult'' to accept the plan.
Hatoyama has insisted that the latest plan differs from the previous one in a
number of ways.
On Monday he said, ''We will come up with the new framework (for the plan) in
which we will pay full attention to the environment, not to mention the safety
of the residents there.''
Hatoyama, who is aiming to resolve the dispute by the end of this month, also
dismissed Fukushima's claim that the government plan goes against an accord
struck by the three ruling parties last year to review the role of U.S. forces
in Japan.
Hatoyama has suggested that new construction methods and measures to be taken
this time along with the relocation will reduce base-hosting burdens on Okinawa
and that would not have been possible if there had been no change of government
last fall.
Even so, he has yet to explain in detail what kind of improvements will be made
in the future.
Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine told reporters on Monday, ''There is no room to
accept (the air base) even if changes in construction methods are made.''
Amid growing disappointment from people in Okinawa over the relocation plan,
Hirano promised at a news conference that the government will explain later
this month why the Henoko area has been chosen and why this is not all bad for
Okinawa and the entire country.
Hirano said it has been worth going through all sorts of trouble and
difficulties since the government was formed last year to ease the burden on
Okinawa, which hosts about 75 percent of the land area used for U.S. military
facilities in Japan under a bilateral security accord.
''Please wait a little bit, as we are making final adjustments'' with the
United States before offering more specifics of the new plan, Hirano said.
Hatoyama is planning to address the Japanese public about the relocation plan
this Friday, according to government sources.
He will release a statement likely underscoring that the government's new plan
to move the air base to the Henoko area will lead to a greater alleviation of
the Okinawa burden than would have been the case under the 2006 accord, while
offering apologies for keeping the base within the prefecture, the sources
said.
==Kyodo
2010-05-24 23:22:13


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