Hatoyama, Obama to issue statements on security treaty anniversary

NAGANO, Japan, Jan. 9 Kyodo -
Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and U.S. President Barack Obama are
planning to issue statements on the 50th anniversary of the revised Japan-U.S.
security alliance, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Saturday.
Kitazawa dismissed concerns over deteriorating bilateral relations, saying in
an address in Nagano that the two leaders intend to deepen their countries'
ties on the occasion of the Jan. 19 anniversary.
''It has been agreed that (the security arrangement) represents the public good
for the Pacific and East Asia as a whole,'' Kitazawa said.
''Some say the Japan-U.S. alliance is becoming severed but that cannot be the
case,'' he said. ''President Obama and the prime minister will deepen (ties)
while celebrating the 50th anniversary of the alliance, and arrangements are
being made for each of them to issue a statement from their respective
positions.''
The Japan-U.S. relationship has hit a snag over the issue of where to relocate
a U.S. base in Okinawa, with the Japanese government exploring the possibility
of reneging on a 2006 bilateral accord with a view to possibly moving the
Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station outside Okinawa or even abroad.
==Kyodo