May 28 2010 14:10
TOKYO, May 28 KYODO
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's eight-month endeavor to move a U.S. base out of Okinawa to ease base-hosting burdens on local residents has come at a significant cost to the premier in terms of political standing and diplomatic relations.
His government's flip-flops on the issue caused its support rate to nosedive, fueled anger among Okinawans and severely strained Japan's relationship with the United States.
But his failed attempt to transfer the Marine base functions from the island prefecture also manifested several problems associated with the current Japan-U.S. security arrangement, to which many Japanese citizens would have otherwise remained indifferent, observers say.
The premier's eventual decision to adopt a transfer plan which is virtually the same as the existing Japan-U.S. pact, after examining more than 40 alternative relocation candidate sites, clearly showed him to be ''amateurish'' and only left ''a sense of emptiness'' among Japanese, said Masaaki Gabe, an expert on international politics.
The professor at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa pointed out that Hatoyama ''bit off more than he could chew'' and ''had no choice'' but to give in to U.S. demands that Tokyo honor the 2006 bilateral accord to move the base within the prefecture.
Koichi Nakano, associate professor of political science at Sophia University, said Hatoyama apparently ''did not give serious thought'' to his campaign pledge last summer that he would strive to move the Futenma facility ''at least'' out of Okinawa, and his ''indecisiveness'' later triggered trouble.
''We didn't see serious efforts on his part to find an alternative relocation site. The latest Japan-U.S. accord was produced just as an excuse,'' Nakano said.
Some Okinawa residents appreciated the fact that Hatoyama cast a political spotlight on the Futenma issue, which had been largely thought to be a matter only concerning local residents, and provided opportunities to rethink the significance of the Japan-U.S. security alliance at a national level.
However, the Hatoyama government's evasion of serious debate on the nature of the Japan-U.S. security pact and haste in attempting to find an alternative relocation site greatly disappointed Okinawans, who have been ''tormented by the U.S. military presence for 65 years'' since the end of World War II, said Yoshiyasu Iha.
Iha, an anti-base activist in Okinawa's Uruma City, said all Japanese people should have looked into the basis of the Japan-U.S. security alliance, which is ''unequal'' in nature and signifies Japan's ''dependence'' on the United States.
''Superficially dealing with the base issue can never solve the problem,'' he said.
In their fresh accord, Japan and the United States said they will try to honor the 2014 deadline for moving the Futenma functions from a crowded residential area of Ginowan to a coastal area in Nago, both in Okinawa, but Gabe predicts the actual relocation will not go smoothly due to local opposition and the Hatoyama government's lack of enthusiasm.
The Cabinet members, ''having struck a makeshift deal with the United States, are probably burned out by now,'' the Okinawan professor said. ''They have no passion for the plan (to move the Futenma functions to Nago) and will not likely advance the transfer process unless the United States pushes them to do so.''
Gabe said he believes Hatoyama's handling of the Futenma issue has left ''an incurable scar'' on Japan-U.S. security ties.
Sophia University's Nakano noted that as the United States maintains a solid alliance with Britain, which is a member of the European Union, theoretically it wouldn't cause any problem to Washington if Japan tried to strengthen its ties with neighbors in East Asia while keeping the security pact with the United States.
He said Hatoyama's ''naive'' approach in handling the security issue has exacerbated the situation, along with U.S. ''unpreparedness'' in dealing with the new Japanese government, which was launched last September following more than 50 years of almost uninterrupted rule by the Liberal Democratic Party.
The government led by Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan calls for more ''equal'' Japan-U.S. ties and seeks to create an ''East Asian community'' for closer regional cooperation, in a gesture that could be interpreted as distancing the country from its long-standing security ally.
Nakano said the importance of the bilateral security arrangement has not been widely recognized among citizens of both countries and that only a handful of government officials and academic experts manage the alliance, which he calls ''outdated,'' as it was established during the Cold War era.
''As the two countries aim to deepen the current security alliance on the occasion of its 50th anniversary this year, they should explore a new multidimensional approach that would involve a wider group of people,'' he said.
Both Gabe and Nakano predict Hatoyama's mishandling of the Futenma issue will not be a major campaign issue during the upcoming House of Councillors election expected in July.
Voters outside Okinawa would not care much about the issue and Okinawa residents would feel sympathy for local ruling party candidates who have been torn between the central government position and the prefectural stance, they said.
==Kyodo
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