April 27, 2010
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Senior Japanese and US officials have met in Washington to exchange views over the relocation of the US Marines' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa.
The working-level talks among officials in charge of defense and foreign affairs took place on Monday.
The 2 sides agreed that the Futenma base issue needs to be settled quickly, in order to pave the way for constructive talks on the broader subject of how to deepen the 2 countries' security alliance.
Japanese officials are believed to have explained the options for relocation that are now being studied by the government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.One idea is to build a short runway inside US Camp Schwab in Okinawa, while moving part of Futenma's helicopter operations to the island of Tokunoshima, 200 kilometers north of Okinawa.
The Hatoyama government is separately studying the option of modifying the existing plan, which calls for building an airfield on the coastal area of Camp Schwab.
US Assistant Secretary of State Philip Crowley told reporters on Monday that the US government continues to favor the existing plan, but hopes to actively exchange views with the Japanese government.
Monday's working-level talks were attended by deputy assistant secretaries Joseph Donovan from the State Department and Michael Schiffer from the Defense Department. Japan was represented by deputy director generals Koji Tomita of the Foreign Ministry and Tetsuro Kuroe of the Defense Ministry.
2010/04/27 10:53(JST)
(JST: UTC+9hrs.)
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