U.S. urges Japan to make decision on Futemma issue by Dec. 18+

WASHINTON, Dec. 12 Kyodo -
The United States urged Japan on Friday to come up with a decision on the issue
of the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in Okinawa by
Dec. 18, a visiting Japanese lawmaker said.
U.S. officials told Japanese House of Representatives member Mikio Shimoji that
if Japan's decision is in line with the existing bilateral accord, Washington
is ready to move part of the Marines' training programs in Okinawa to another
U.S. base in Shizuoka Prefecture to reduce the base-hosting burden on the
Okinawa people, according to an official traveling with Shimoji.
The 2006 accord calls for relocating the Futemma base from Ginowan to the
coastal area in Nago in the same prefecture.
Shimoji, the policy chief of the People's New Party, a member of the tripartite
ruling coalition in Japan, met with Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of
state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, Kevin Maher, director of the U.S.
State Department Office of Japanese Affairs, and Principal Deputy Assistant of
State Joseph Donovan.
If Tokyo comes up with a decision other than that, the U.S. officials said the
U.S. Congress would not earmark spending for the relocation of some Marines
from Okinawa to Guam, according to the official accompanying Shimoji.
Earlier this week, Congress agreed to earmark spending for the relocation to
Guam after restoring a substantial part of the fiscal 2010 budget bill that had
been cut.
The U.S. side's comments indicate that Washington is unwilling to set a budget
on this matter for fiscal 2011 if no conclusion is reached on the Futemma
issue.
It is believed that the United States wants Japan's decision by Dec. 18 because
it is the deadline for compiling a draft budget for fiscal 2011.
Shimoji is expected to convey the new U.S. proposal to Japanese Prime Minister
Yukio Hatoyama.
''I have not received such a request directly from the United States,''
Hatoyama told reporters in Tokyo, adding he will confirm what the U.S. side has
conveyed to Shimoji.
On Friday, Hatoyama indicated that the government was considering the option of
rewriting the bilateral agreement with Washington as the government moves to
formulate its policy on the issue.
Shimoji told reporters he had explained to U.S. officials that a decision based
on the existing accord ''is not easy'' for the Japanese coalition government,
which is led by the Democratic Party of Japan and two junior partners -- his
own party and the Social Democratic Party which opposes the existing agreement.

But he had agreed with the U.S. officials on the need to reach a conclusion at
an early date, Shimoji said.
Reducing the burden on the Okinawan people has been a priority of the Japanese
government. The U.S. military has already moved some of its training programs
from Okinawa to other sites in Japan, including a Ground Self-Defense Force
facility, and the latest proposal comes as an additional measure.
==Kyodo