Clinton to meet Okada in Hawaii next Tuesday: State Dept.

Jan 7 05:46 PM US/Eastern

WASHINGTON, Jan. 7 (AP) - (Kyodo) — U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will meet with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada in Honolulu, Hawaii next Tuesday, the State Department announced Thursday.

The meeting is expected to address a dispute between Japan and the United States over relocating a U.S. airbase in Japan's Okinawa Prefecture, Kurt Campbell, assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said in a news briefing on Clinton's forthcoming trip to the Pacific region.

"We will talk about the security alliance. We will talk about Okinawa and Futemma. We will underscore American message on these issues," Campbell said.

Campbell said Clinton and Okada will have "a very good working meeting" and discuss what Japan and the United States can do about enhancing their ties in the future, while commemorating the 50th anniversary of the bilateral security alliance.

"I think Foreign Minister Okada's visit really is the kickoff of an effort that will take place over the course of the next year to underscore the critical importance of this alliance," the assistant secretary of state said.

He also said, "We think it's important to commemorate what it has achieved, but the truth is, what's much more important is to focus on what it can do and what it needs to do in the future."

Clinton will stop in Hawaii on her way to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea on a nine-day trip to the Pacific region.

Okada conveyed to Clinton in December Tokyo's plan to make maximum efforts to reach a decision by May on where to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station.

Washington has been pressing Tokyo to stick to a 2006 bilateral deal under which the Futemma facility, which is located in a residential area of Ginowan, would be moved to a less densely populated area in Nago, also in Okinawa, to reduce the burden of hosting bases on the local people.

In Hawaii, Okada is expected to seek Washington's understanding on the Japanese stance on the base issue.

The 2006 deal is part of a broader agreement on the realignment of U.S. military forces in Japan, including the transfer of 8,000 Marines stationed in the prefecture to Guam.