THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
2010/05/29
Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, his campaign promise on the Futenma issue in tatters, on Friday gave marching orders to a Cabinet minister who heads a minor coalition party over her defiant stand against his policy on the U.S. military base issue.
The dismissal of Mizuho Fukushima, as state minister in charge of consumer affairs and the declining birthrate, may cause her Social Democratic Party to quit the ruling coalition and further weaken Hatoyama's hold on government.
Fukushima, a dyed-in-the-wool pacifist who, unlike Hatoyama, was determined to stand by her election campaign manifesto, refused to sign a Cabinet document that gave approval to an agreement between Japan and the United States to transfer heliport functions of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to coastal Henoko in Nago, also in the prefecture.
At a meeting of executives of the three ruling coalition parties in the evening, Hatoyama asked Fukushima, 54, and Shizuka Kamei, who heads the People's New Party, the other junior coalition partner, to sign the Cabinet document on the Futenma relocation.
When Fukushima said she could not do so, Hatoyama asked to talk privately to her. Unable to persuade Fukushima to change her mind, he fired her.
Later on Friday, Hatoyama held a news conference during which he apologized for the day's events that led to Fukushima's dismissal and the Cabinet's approval of the Futenma relocation policy.
He said he was caught between trying to relieve the excessive base burden placed on Okinawa while also taking the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the region into account, an obvious reference to recent events involving the two Koreas.
"This agreement may only be a first step, or even a small half-step, but we must move forward," Hatoyama said.
Saying he would continue to work to obtain the understanding of Okinawans and his coalition partners, Hatoyama said, "Without this first step, there cannot be further progress for relieving the burden and dangers on the people of Okinawa."
Earlier in the day, Cabinet colleagues suggested that Fukushima should resign if she could not bring herself to embrace the Futenma policy. However, Fukushima made it clear she had no intention of stepping down voluntarily, forcing Hatoyama's hand.
The rest of the Cabinet team fell into line and signed the document declaring the Japanese government's approval of an agreement with the United States announced earlier Friday.
Hatoyama was forced to dismiss Fukushima to show a united Cabinet front. However, his decision could be the trigger that sends the SDP out of the coalition government.
There was no indication Friday evening on whether the SDP would remain in the coalition, but some party executives were already saying there was little reason for the party to remain in the ruling bloc.
The Cabinet approval was for a joint statement released earlier Friday under the names of Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, representing Japan, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Defense Robert Gates for the United States.
The details of the relocated base, including the exact location of the runway and construction method, will be finalized by the end of August.
As a way of reducing the burden of U.S. military bases on Okinawa Prefecture, the joint statement calls for moving more training exercises outside of Okinawa and includes the example of Tokunoshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture.
Before the joint statement was released, Hatoyama talked by telephone for about 20 minutes with U.S. President Barack Obama.
The broad outlines of the relocation facility are very similar to the 2006 agreement reached between the United States and the government then headed by the Liberal Democratic Party, which Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan ousted in the Lower House election last August.
While the latest joint statement calls for a runway of 1,800 meters, including the overrun, there is no specific mention of whether one in the shape of a V will be used and if one or two runways will be built.
Although the 2006 agreement called for completing the Futenma relocation by 2014, Friday's joint statement does not set a specific deadline, but includes wording that says, "both sides confirmed the intention to locate, configure and construct the replacement facility in such a manner as to ensure that environmental impact assessment procedures and construction of the replacement facility can be completed without significant delay."
The statement also calls for consideration of such factors as "safety, operational requirements, noise impact, environmental concerns and effects on the local community."
It said consideration would be given to moving training exercises not only outside of Okinawa Prefecture, but outside of Japan, to Guam, for example, if possible.
The two sides also confirmed that about 8,000 Marines and their families would be moved from Okinawa to Guam, as agreed to previously.
Meanwhile, local government officials in Okinawa were outraged by the joint statement because Futenma heliport functions would not be moved out of the southern prefecture as Hatoyama had once promised and which many had prayed would happen.
Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima said of Friday's joint statement, "It is extremely regrettable. I have always thought that (a Henoko move) would be a very difficult choice. There is no other way to put it."
Nago Mayor Susumu Inamine also threw cold water on the proposal to move functions to the Henoko area of his city and said, "There is zero possibility of pulling this off. It will simply not happen."
Inamine also said he would not negotiate with the central government over relocating Futenma functions to his city.
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