Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan comes under U.S. pressure to settle Futenma base relocation

TOKYO (KYODO) - Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday tried to withstand U.S. pressure to find an immediate breakthrough in the deadlocked relocation of a U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Wednesday in Washington he hopes for a resolution to the issue of moving the Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station within the Japanese prefecture by around the end of this spring.
But Kan, who is increasingly losing power in recent weeks, said Japan is not considering putting a deadline on settling the relocation issue.
Kan told reporters in the evening that the government's position remains intact that without setting a deadline it will seek ''the acceptance of people in Okinawa in a cordial manner,'' while complying with an agreement struck last May with the United States.
Japan and the United States have agreed to relocate the base within the prefecture, from a densely populated district of Ginowan to a coastal area in Nago.
The agreement has met with strong local opposition as former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who resigned last June, had raised hopes that the base would be moved out of the prefecture.
Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima showed displeasure following Gates' remarks.
Nakaima told reporters in the prefectural capital Naha that it seems the relocation issue ''won't go anywhere by this spring.''
The governor also warned against making an important decision without hearing the voices of the prefecture, saying Tokyo and Washington ''always go over the head of Okinawa, which is a central player, in getting things done'' in the negotiations.
Gates said, ''My hope is, based on my conversations in Japan, that we will have some resolution of this by later this spring or early summer.''
In a House Armed Services Committee hearing, Gates also said the resolution is a prerequisite for the transfer of U.S. Marine troops from Okinawa to Guam and the return of U.S. bases south of the Kadena Air Base to the Japanese side.
The defense chief said that ''absent resolution of the Futenma replacement facility issue, our troops aren't coming out of Okinawa, land is not being returned to the Okinawans, and we have to sort of start all over again.''
He said the United States would not be able to ''go forward on Guam -- and in fact, the Congress has withheld money for going forward on Guam -- until we have greater clarity on what happens on Okinawa.''
Japan and the United States plan to hold the so-called two-plus-two meeting involving their foreign and defense ministers during Japan's holidays from late April to early May, where the relocation plan will be the top agenda item.
But it is unlikely there will be a breakthrough on the issue by the ministerial meeting, given the strong opposition from Okinawa authorities and citizens.
''We have to keep the U.S. hopes in mind. But...I don't think that setting a deadline would support efforts toward a resolution,'' Yukio Edano, the top government spokesman, also said at a news conference.
Kan is planning to visit the United States by the end of June to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama.
In the forthcoming summit talks, Japan and the United States are trying to release a joint statement on their long-standing security alliance.
But no tangible progress has been made toward the relocation and it could turn into a major stumbling block for Kan's planned visit to the United States.
Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and other Cabinet members in charge of the Futenma relocation issue are expected to hold talks as early as next week, according to government officials.