Hatoyama meets Okinawa gov., does not specify timing for base decision

+

TOKYO, Nov. 30 Kyodo -
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Monday that the
government will make a decision on where to relocate a U.S. military base in the
prefecture after ongoing Japan-U.S. working-level talks on the issue come to a
conclusion, but did not elaborate exactly when, Nakaima said.
After their meeting at the premier's office in Tokyo, Nakaima told reporters
that he urged Hatoyama to work out a ''concrete road map'' as soon as possible
toward removing what he calls the danger of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air
Station in Ginowan.
The governor reiterated that moving the air station outside the southernmost
prefecture is ''the best choice'' for people in Okinawa who host the bulk of
U.S. military forces stationed in Japan and that he hopes the government will
draw up a road map toward that end.
But Nakaima indicated that if that would take too long, his local government
would accept other options to immediately move the base, which local residents
consider dangerous, as that is the purpose of the Futemma relocation plan.
Hatoyama replied that the central government would deal with the relocation
after the working group of Japanese and U.S. officials reaches a conclusion,
but did not specify the timing, according to Nakaima.
''I told him that I would like to make a decision in a way that would help to
alleviate the burden on people in Okinawa as much as possible, while working
closely (with Gov. Nakaima),'' Hatoyama told reporters in the evening.
The prime minister said that he told Nakaima that he respects the governor who
has had to make a series of ''painful choices'' over the years on the
relocation issue.
Hatoyama and Nakaima met unofficially at the prime minister's official
residence for about an hour on Friday, but Hatoyama said Monday he does not
plan to reveal what was discussed in Friday's meeting.
In a related move, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada is planning to visit Okinawa
on Dec. 5 for the second time since assuming his post in September, following
his trip on Nov. 15, sources familiar with the matter said Monday.
Okada hopes to exchange opinions with residents in Nago, where the Futemma base
is to be relocated under a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord, as part of efforts to find a
solution to the relocation issue, they said.
Speculation is simmering that the government may fix its policy on the
relocation by the end of this year, as pressure from Washington for a quick
resolution has been mounting and Okada has also stressed that the issue must be
solved by year-end.
But Hatoyama has said that a decision within that timeframe is unlikely and he
would like to wait for the results of the Nago city mayoral election scheduled
for next January to determine the local will.
The Japanese leader's evasive stance has touched off criticism among
opposition-bloc lawmakers. Shigeru Ishiba, the Liberal Democratic Party's
policy chief, said on a TV program that the central government should take
responsibility and make up its mind for the whole country.
In 2006, Japan and the United States agreed to transfer the air station that
currently sits in the center of a residential area in the city of Ginowan to
the coastal area of the U.S. Marines' Camp Schwab in a less densely populated
area in Nago, another city in Okinawa, by 2014.
The accord is part of a broader Japan-U.S. agreement on the realignment of U.S.
forces in Japan and also involves the transfer of around 8,000 Marines from
Okinawa to Guam. It was agreed under the previous Japanese government led by
the LDP, which is now the main opposition party.
Hatoyama told Nakaima in Monday's 20-minute talks, which were held at the prime
minister's request, that he is aware that residents of Okinawa have been
stepping up calls for moving the facility outside the prefecture since
Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan took office in mid-September, according to
Nakaima.
Japan and the United States set up the working group to examine the process
that led to the two countries reaching the 2006 accord.
Washington has urged Tokyo to stick to the agreement, while showing a certain
level of understanding for the Japanese government's plan to reexamine the
accord following a change of power.
On Monday, Akihisa Nagashima, Japan's parliamentary defense secretary, also
indicated that members of the government mostly share the view that moving the
facility outside of Okinawa or Japan is unrealistic.
''It is easy to say, 'Move it outside the prefecture or outside the country,'
but realistically difficult -- that is a view mostly shared by the
government,'' Nagashima said on the TV program with Ishiba.
At a press conference, however, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said he
does not think that such a view is necessarily shared within the government.
In a meeting in Tokyo on Monday, Foreign Minister Okada told Adm. Robert
Willard, commander of the Hawaii-based U.S. Pacific Command, that he personally
hopes to resolve the issue as early as the end of the year, according to the
Japanese Foreign Ministry's press release.
Willard said he believes that the issue will be solved expeditiously through
the bilateral working group, it said.
==Kyodo
2009-11-30 22:57:46