Japan not to include Futenma settlement in Japan-U.S. statement

TOKYO, Dec. 31 Kyodo -
The Japanese government has decided not to seek the inclusion of a settlement
on the relocation of a U.S. Marine base within Okinawa Prefecture in a
Japan-U.S. joint statement to be issued during Prime Minister Naoto Kan's
planned visit to the United States in the spring, government sources said
Friday.
Following visits by Kan and Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara to Okinawa in
December, the government has judged that it would be difficult to secure the
understanding of local people in a short period of time over the relocation of
the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station, the sources said.
Japan is hoping that the document, which is expected to be issued by Kan and
U.S. President Barack Obama on the long-standing Japan-U.S. security alliance,
will deal with a wide range of bilateral issues centering on three pillars --
security, the economy, and human and cultural exchanges, they said.
Maehara wants to flesh out the three pillars in talks with U.S. Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton during his trip to the United States from next Thursday.
Kan has reiterated his resolve to relocate the Futenma base within Okinawa in
line with a bilateral accord reached by Tokyo and Washington in late May.
But he has also said that Japan will not impose a deadline for settling the
relocation issue as strong opposition persists in Okinawa.
Japan and the United States have been exploring ways to strengthen and deepen
the Japan-U.S. security alliance, which marked its 50th anniversary in 2010.
==Kyodo