THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/04/28
Tokyo has presented to Washington "a serious proposal that includes some encouraging elements" on relocating the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa Prefecture, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell said.
In an interview with The Asahi Shimbun on his way to Asia, Campbell said many questions and significant details must be addressed, but the proposal "gives us the basis for beginning a very serious effort at official dialogue."
Campbell declined to specify what the Japanese proposal entailed.
However, several sources from Japan and the United States said it involves revising the current plan to move the Futenma air station to the coastal area of the Henoko district in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, with more consideration for environmental and other aspects.
Campbell echoed the U.S. stance that the original Henoko plan agreed upon in 2006 "represents what we believe is the best way forward."
"But at the same time, we have also tried to indicate that the U.S. side is open to working constructively with Japan on elements that the government deems to be important," he said.
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has pledged to resolve the Futenma relocation issue by the end of May, has also promised to ease the U.S. military burden on Okinawa Prefecture, where an estimated 90,000 people on Sunday held a rally demanding the Futenma base be moved outside the prefecture.
The proposal includes moving some of the Marines' drills outside the prefecture, the sources said.
Campbell said negotiations on the Futenma issue were under way between the two countries, including working-level talks on specifics about the "serious proposal" in Washington on Monday.
Although the Japanese government had requested such a working-level meeting, the U.S. side had refused, saying there was no proposal from Japan worth considering.
However, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos agreed Friday to hold a working-level meeting to discuss Japan's proposal in detail.
"We are looking forward to a chance . . . for the U.S. to hear from the Japanese side some specifics associated with their current thinking, and we are grateful for the chance for this to be conducted in an orderly and well-prepared way between the responsible U.S. and Japanese officials," Campbell said. "That's a hopeful sign."
With no viable options to take the entire Futenma base out of Okinawa Prefecture, the Hatoyama administration seems intent on winning over the U.S. side by sticking to the original plan of making Henoko the prime relocation site for the Futenma helicopter units.
At the same time, the central government wants to appeal to Okinawa Prefecture by easing its burden through the transfer of U.S. military drills elsewhere, possibly to Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture.
The government has started discussing construction of a runway off Henoko by laying support posts under the water instead of reclaiming a sea area under the current plan.
Tokyo apparently devised the measure to get Washington to the negotiating table as the May deadline looms.
Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa conveyed the idea to Hatoyama on Thursday.
A similar plan to build a floating heliport was raised during the 1996-98 administration of Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto, right after Washington agreed to return land for the Futenma air station to Japan. That idea was brought up again in 2005.
Another plan taken up by the current administration is to build a "mega-float" structure made of steel boxes.
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