Japan may present U.S. with concrete Futemma relocation plan soon

TOKYO, Dec. 9 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama indicated Wednesday that he hopes to present a concrete plan soon to the United States on the issue of where to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture and to enter into formal consultations with Washington.

In Guam, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said the same day that the
government's plan to defer making a decision on the relocation until next year
would ''seriously affect'' the ongoing realignment of U.S. forces in Japan,
adding that Tokyo would bear a ''heavy responsibility.''
The remarks by Kitazawa, one of the key Japanese negotiators on the issue,
could have repercussions on the debate within the government as it grapples
with the thorny problem, political observers said.
The developments came a day after Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada admitted that
discussions at a high-level bilateral working group on the issue have been
suspended, while the United States is growing increasingly impatient with
Japan, its main security ally in Asia.
''Our government's thinking has come closer to being formulated,'' Hatoyama
told reporters. ''Now that it is nearing mid-December, we will cement plans to
present to the United States as a negotiating card.''
Asked if the issue has negatively influenced the alliance, Hatoyama said,
''They (the United States) may state such an opinion, but that is not a remark
made in formal negotiations.'' He added that he has to make a careful decision
because it is a matter that concerns people in Okinawa and elsewhere in the
country.
Japan is reviewing a 2006 agreement with the United States to relocate the
flight functions of the Futemma airfield to a new facility to be built in a
less crowded part of the southernmost prefecture.
Under the agreement, the construction of the new facility is targeted for 2014,
while the transfer of 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the U.S. territory of Guam
-- another key part of a broader road map for the realignment of U.S. forces in
Japan -- must be completed in the same time frame.
Japan is studying various options, including the possibility of moving the
Futemma facility out of Okinawa or overseas, to reduce the burden on local
people of hosting bases, but Washington has pressed Tokyo to stick to the
existing plan, saying a lack of progress on relocation could negatively affect
the entire road map.
Also on Wednesday, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said the timeline of
the ongoing realignment of U.S. forces could be affected if the issue takes
time to resolve.
But he said Japan does not want a delay in the implementation, adding, ''I
believe it is a matter of consultations between Japan and the United States.''
To dispel any misunderstanding that may have arisen about Tokyo's handling of
the issue, Hirano said Japan is eager to arrange a summit between Hatoyama and
U.S. President Barack Obama in Copenhagen this month, but no such meeting has
been scheduled so far.
Hatoyama, for his part, said he hopes to meet with Obama in the Danish capital
but only if such an opportunity arises, noting that his government must first
formulate its policy on the matter.
The prime minister plans to meet with the leaders of his Democratic Party of
Japan's junior coalition partners on Friday evening, one of which opposes the
existing relocation plan. They are likely to discuss the Futemma issue then,
according to Hirano.
Hatoyama has said Japan will inform the United States of its policy by Dec. 18,
when world leaders will meet at a U.N. climate conference in Copenhagen. He has
noted, however, that such a policy may not necessarily involve a conclusion on
the relocation site.
The Social Democratic Party, which has effectively threatened to leave
Hatoyama's ruling coalition if he adheres to the current plan to relocate the
Futemma facility within Okinawa, has proposed moving it to Guam.
While on a three-day visit to the Pacific island, Kitazawa said that option
would be difficult to implement, telling reporters that moving the facility to
Guam would ''deviate greatly'' from the bilateral agreement on the realignment
of U.S. forces.
He also said it would be difficult to transfer the Marines from Okinawa to Guam
before completing the relocation of the Futemma facility. Japan and the United
States view the two parts as a package.
Kitazawa made the remarks after surveying a U.S. Air Force base on Guam, where
projects financed by Japanese money are under way to build the facilities and
other infrastructure to host the Marines who are to be moved from Okinawa.
Okada said the suspension of the high-level Japan-U.S. working group, which was
set up to seek an early solution to the relocation issue, was due to a number
of factors including the SDP's apparent threat to break away from the
coalition, a delay in Japan's decision on the issue and a search for
alternative plans.
==Kyodo