Japan Opposition Victory Won’t Harm U.S. Ties, Commander Says

By Anna Kitanaka and Sachiko Sakamaki

July 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. ties with Japan won’t be harmed should Japan’s opposition, which has called for a less-dependent security relationship with the world’s most powerful country, win elections next month, an American military commander said.

The Democratic Party of Japan, which opposed sending military forces to Iraq, a support mission for the U.S. in Afghanistan and anti-piracy operations off Somalia, is leading in opinion polls against Prime Minister Taro Aso’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The election will be held on Aug. 30.

“The relationship with the United States and Japan will remain as it has been,” Lieutenant General Edward A. Rice, the top U.S. military officer in Japan, said today at a press conference in Tokyo. “There may be some changes around the edges, but the fundamentals of the relationship are so strong that they will survive.”

The DPJ said it will seek an “equal partnership” with the U.S., according to an election policy document it released today. The party dropped a key policy set out in a similar document last year that opposed the navy’s Indian Ocean refueling mission in support of the U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan.

The party says it will propose revising an agreement on the status of U.S. forces in Japan, which numbered nearly 45,000 last year, according to Japan’s foreign and defense ministries. The DPJ said last year it would institute a “sweeping review.”

The opposition’s shadow defense minister, Keiichiro Asao, said last week the party will seek to reduce the estimated $10.3 billion Japan is paying to transfer 8,000 U.S. Marines to Guam from Okinawa.

The DPJ said in the election document it will allow the Japanese navy to help coast guards patrol the seas off Somalia once civilian control over the force is established. The party also toned down some positions, including a demand to renegotiate an agreement on U.S. forces in the country.

North Korea Threat

The DPJ policy document says it will support measures including sanctions and cargo inspections as required under a recent United Nations Security Council resolution, after North Korea tested missiles and a nuclear device.

The threat from North Korea is still a major security issue, Rice said.

“They continue to pour a significant level of their resources into maintaining their military capabilities,” said Rice. “Their military remains a very capable and formidable force, one that we must be prepared to confront in all dimensions.”

North Korea fired 11 missiles in July in defiance of UN sanctions imposed on the country after a nuclear test.

The UN has asked all countries in the region to refrain from any action that would escalate tensions, Ruhakana Rugunda, the Ugandan ambassador who serves as the council’s acting president, told reporters earlier this month.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anna Kitanaka in Tokyo akitanaka@bloomberg.net; Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 23, 2009 05:35 EDT