By FOSTER KLUG, Associated Press Writer1 hr 18 mins ago
NEW YORK – The United States said Monday that it does not want to dictate policy to a new independent-minded Japanese government, even as it pushed for some aspects of the countries' security alliance to remain the same.
Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell, the top U.S. diplomat for East Asia, told reporters on the sidelines of this week's United Nations General Assembly that the Obama administration believes "a degree of continuity is critical" in U.S.-Japan ties.
Asked for specifics, he mentioned Okinawa, the crowded southern Japanese island where the two countries have agreed to shut down a Marine air station and replace it with another somewhere else on Okinawa. Many Okinawans want the base moved off their island, a position some members of new Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's government support.
Hatoyama's government wants more equal relations between Tokyo and Washington and has said it wants to review the U.S. military presence in Japan.
Still, Hatoyama has been careful to say that the United States, Japan's main military ally and major trading partner, will remain the cornerstone of his government's foreign policy.
Campbell, just returned from talks with the new government in Tokyo, said the Obama administration is "going to be very clear about how important it is to respect each other as equals." He spoke of Washington's "support of a strong and independent Japanese foreign policy."
"In private, we will, however, underscore areas where we think continuity in policy is important," he said.
Hatoyama's government also wants to end Japan's naval refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of the U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. The United States has said it would like Japan to continue its cooperation.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, speaking to reporters before her meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, was asked about the importance of the refueling mission. She would only say, however, that she and Okada would be discussing many issues.
"The relationship between Japan and the United States is so broad and so deep that there isn't any one issue that defines it," Clinton said.
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AP writer Matthew Lee contributed to this report.
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