Guthertz: Bloomberg Report Reveals that Guam Buildup No Longer Depends on Futenma Progress

http://www.pacificnewscenter.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=20623:guthertz-highlights-bloomberg-report-that-guam-buildup-no-longer-depends-on-futenma-progress&catid=45:guam-news&Itemid=156

Hatoyama Ally Rejects U.S. Base Relocation Ahead of Election

May 24, 2010, 4:18 AM EDT
Sachiko Sakamaki

May 24 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s coalition partner rejected a government decision to relocate a U.S. military base within Okinawa, threatening a split ahead of July’s upper house election.

“The idea was to lessen the burden of the people of Okinawa and building a new base doesn’t do that,” Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima told reporters today after a meeting at the prime minister’s office in Tokyo. “It violates” an election pledge made by Hatoyama last year, she said.

Fukushima, a member of Hatoyama’s Cabinet, threatened in December to leave the government unless the Futenma Marine Air Base was shifted off Okinawa. Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan, which has a majority in the lower house of parliament, needs help from the SDP’s 5 seats in the less powerful upper house to ensure passage of legislation.

The administration “will politely explain the need for the coalition to understand the prime minister’s thinking,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told reporters today in Tokyo. Hatoyama yesterday said he has “no choice” but to relocate Futenma on the island.

The relocation decision resolved a dispute with the Obama administration that has contributed to a plunge in Hatoyama’s popularity since he came into office in September. Reneging on his promise to Okinawa may imperil the DPJ’s chances in July’s upper-house elections.

‘Wasted Six Months’

“Hatoyama wasted six months and made everyone his enemy,” said Tsuneo Watanabe, author of “Japan’s New Security Strategy” and director of policy research at the Tokyo Foundation. “It’s entirely possible the DPJ loses these elections.”

Hatoyama yesterday met with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima and apologized, saying the decision was made “given security concerns in East Asia such as the situation on the Korean Peninsula.” Nakaima told Hatoyama the decision was “extremely regrettable and very tough to accept.”

Okinawan SDP lawmaker Kantoku Teruya wrote on his blog yesterday that “naturally, the SDP and I are opposed to the cabinet approving this. Leader Fukushima will refuse to sign.”

Hatoyama visited Okinawa two days after meeting U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to discuss how to respond to North Korea’s deadly attack on a South Korean naval ship.

‘State of Alert’

“The North Korean attack is good news for Hatoyama in that he can say we’re in a heightened state of alert,” said Robert Dujarric, director of the Institute of Contemporary Japanese Studies at Temple University’s Tokyo campus. “At least he can go into the election without this over his head, but I don’t know how much it will help him.”

Hatoyama told Nakaima at a meeting at the governor’s office in Naha that Japan will move the base to the coastal area of Henoko, as envisioned in the original agreement. Thousands of residents have demonstrated against keeping the facility in Okinawa, citing noise, pollution and crime, and have voted in local politicians who oppose the base. Protesters waved banners saying “Don’t Betray Us” outside yesterday’s meeting.

The U.S. pushed Japan to uphold the 2006 agreement to move Futenma within Okinawa, as part of a $10.3 billion plan that would also transfer 8,000 Marines to Guam. Clinton, who met with Hatoyama on May 21, today called his decision “difficult but correct.”

‘Fulfill Commitments’

“I thank him for his courage and determination to fulfill his commitments,” Clinton said in Beijing. She said the U.S. is working with Japan to lighten the impact on Okinawa.

The two sides will release a joint agreement on relocating Futenma on May 28, the Yomiuri newspaper said last week. Under the original agreement, helicopter units at Futenma would be moved to new facilities at Henoko near the existing Camp Schwab, and a runway would be built on reclaimed land.

Hatoyama’s popularity has plummeted since the DPJ won a landslide victory in the Diet’s lower house in August, ousting the Liberal Democratic Party from half a century of almost unbroken rule.

“The South Korean ship incident raised the public’s awareness of Japan’s security situation, but it won’t help Hatoyama convince Okinawans or help his approval ratings,” said Atsuo Ito, a Tokyo-based independent political analyst.

Okinawa, 950 miles (1,530 kilometers) south of Tokyo, hosts 75 percent of the U.S. bases and more than half of the 50,000 American military personnel stationed in the country.

Hatoyama’s approval rating fell to 21 percent, down 4 percentage points from last month, while his disapproval rating rose 3 points to 64 percent, the Asahi newspaper said on May 17. Sixty-one percent of respondents said Hatoyama would be breaking his commitment if the Marine units stay in Okinawa, the Asahi reported.

The paper obtained 2,077 valid responses in the May 15-16 poll, and didn’t provide a margin of error.

--With assistance from Takashi Hirokawa in Tokyo and Nicole Gaouette in Beijing. Editors: John Brinsley, Patrick Harrington.

Japan Agrees to U.S. Base Runway on Reclaimed Land, Yomiuri Says

By Kazuyo Sawa

May 19 (Bloomberg) -- Japan has agreed to allow a runway for a relocated U.S. military base to be built on reclaimed land on the southern island of Okinawa, the Yomiuri newspaper reported, citing unidentified government officials.

The U.S. rejected Japan’s proposal to build the runway on a platform because of security concerns, the report said. The change means Japan is accepting most of the original 2006 agreement for the relocation of the Futenma Marine Air Base, the report said.

Last Updated: May 18, 2010 18:00 EDT


普天間埋め立てに逆戻り、野党は批判強める

　沖縄県の米軍普天間飛行場移設問題で、政府が米軍キャンプ・シュワブ沿岸部（同県名護市辺野古）に造る代替施設の工法を「杭(くい)打ち桟橋」方式から「埋め立て方式」に戻す方向となったことについて、野党側は１９日、批判を強めた。

　岡田外相は衆院外務委員会で、自民党の小野寺五典・元外務副大臣から杭打ち桟橋方式を断念したかどうかを聞かれ、「そのことを前提に交渉を行っていると言ったことはない。断念についても、特に言うことはない」と述べるにとどめた。小野寺氏は「実現不可能な案を提示してきたのではないか」と政府の対応を批判した。

　ただ、長島昭久防衛政務官は同委で、「工期を考えたら、もう１回アセスメント（環境影響評価）をやり直せばもう少し時間がかかる。その点は頭に入れて米国と話し合わなければいけない」と述べた。杭打ち桟橋方式は、現行計画に基づく環境影響評価以上の手続きが必要となる見通しのため、同方式に否定的な見解を示したものとみられる。

　政府内には、「杭打ち桟橋は工法として成り立ちうるということで、米側には説明している。（断念は）早すぎる」との声もあるが、悲観論が広がっている。

　この問題に関し、日米両政府は２０、２１両日に東京都内で審議官級の実務者協議を開く。米側は、ドノバン筆頭国務次官補代理とシファー国防次官補代理が出席する予定で、クリントン国務長官の２１日の訪日とも併せ、普天間問題の日米協議は大詰めを迎える。

（2010年5月19日13時02分 読売新聞）

http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/news/20100519-OYT1T00611.htm?from=main3

Base Relocation - Feature - Yomiuri Online
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/feature/20091215-481540/index.htm

Hatoyama to ‘Ease’ Okinawa Base Burden After 90,000 Demonstrate

April 25, 2010, 10:52 PM EDT
By Takashi Hirokawa and Sachiko Sakamaki

April 26 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said he’ll work to “ease the burden” of the people of Okinawa after tens of thousands of residents rallied yesterday against keeping an American military base on the island.

Organizers said more than 90,000 Okinawans took part in the protest to oppose moving the Futenma Marine Corp Air Station to a less populated part of the island as part of a 2006 agreement. U.S. President Barack Obama is pushing Japan to implement the accord, while residents want Hatoyama to fulfill a campaign pledge to transfer the base elsewhere.

“It was a very big event,” Hatoyama told reporters today in Tokyo. “We understand this is one expression of the public will. We’ll continue to make efforts to ease the burden of the Okinawan people.”

Traffic jams prevented an even larger number of people from joining the protest, said Nozomi Tsukeran, a rally organizer.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada signaled Japan will accept most of the 2006 relocation plan in a meeting last week with U.S. Ambassador John V. Roos, the Washington Post reported April 23, citing unidentified U.S. and Japanese officials. Hatoyama confirmed the meeting while disputing some details of the newspaper’s report.

Hatoyama repeatedly has said he will settle the issue of where to relocate the base by the end of May, suggesting last week he may step down should he fail. The prime minister missed his original year-end target date and has seen his popularity plummet since taking office seven months ago.

Election Looms

Lawmakers in his Democratic Party of Japan have suggested Hatoyama may have to quit his post before parliamentary elections set for July if he’s unable to resolve the issue.

The U.S. and Japan, under the previous Liberal Democratic Party administration, agreed in 2006 to transfer the base within Okinawa as part of a $10.3 billion plan that would also transfer 8,000 Marines from the island to Guam. Hatoyama campaigned on moving the base off the island, which hosts 75 percent of the U.S. military facilities and more than half of the 50,000 American troops in Japan.

The administration’s approval rating fell 12 percentage points to 24 percent from March, the Nikkei newspaper said today. The disapproval rating rose 11 points to 68 percent. Fifty-seven percent of respondents said Hatoyama should resign if he doesn’t meet his base deadline. The paper polled 914 people from April 23-25 and didn’t provide a margin of error.

--Editors: John Brinsley, Bill Austin

Japan Broadly Accepts U.S. Plan to Move Okinawa Base, Post Says

By John Brinsley

April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s government signaled that it will accept most of a plan to relocate a military base on Okinawa, the Washington Post reported, citing unidentified U.S. and Japanese officials. Kyodo News cited Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama as saying the report is “not exactly true.”

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told U.S. Ambassador John V. Roos in a meeting that Japan is leaning toward consenting to most of the 2006 accord to move the Futenma Air Base of the U.S. Marine Corps from the city to a less populated part of the island, the Post said. Okada suggested some changes, including the design of the runway at the new base, which would be located in the town of Henoko, the Washington-based newspaper said.

U.S. officials indicated they approved of the plan, adding that it was a first step and that Japan would provide more details next week, the Post reported.

Hatoyama suggested yesterday that he may step down should he fail to resolve the issue by a self-imposed deadline of the end of May. Kyodo News wire service cited Hatoyama as telling reporters today that, while the Roos-Okada meeting took place, Japan shouldn’t accept a proposal to use reclaimed land for the runway at Henoko because it would hurt the local environment.

Last Updated: April 24, 2010 11:10 EDT

Japan to Ask Tokunoshima to Accept U.S. Air Base, Asahi Says

By Kazuyo Sawa

April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s government will officially request this month that local authorities on the southern island of Tokunoshima accept a U.S. military base, the Asahi newspaper said, without citing anyone.

About 15,000 people gathered on Tokunoshima yesterday to protest against the proposal to relocate the base from Futenma, the report said. The island’s three majors reject the central government’s plan, the newspaper said.

Last Updated: April 18, 2010 18:34 EDT

Island Rejects Japan Proposal to Relocate U.S. Military Base

By Sachiko Sakamaki

April 14 (Bloomberg) -- An island in southern Japan is rejecting a ruling party proposal to host a U.S. military base and resolve a dispute between Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the Obama administration.

Hatoyama has said he will decide by May whether to adhere to a 2006 agreement to relocate the Futenma Marine Air Base on Okinawa to another part of the island, over the objections of local residents. The mayors of the three towns on the nearby island of Tokunoshima were asked in January by Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Seishu Makino to consider accepting the base.

The mayors rejected the idea and the 26,000 residents of Tokunoshima, located 1,400 kilometers (870 miles) south of Tokyo, are planning an April 18 rally to convey their opposition.

“It’s impossible,” said Akira Okubo, one of the three mayors, said by phone today. “There are issues of noise and security, and most of the residents are opposed to the plan.”

Okubo said Makino proposed the idea to him and his two colleagues on Jan. 25 and asked them to meet with Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano. The three mayors rejected the idea. Makino declined to comment. His secretary Hirokazu Tsuruta confirmed the proposal while declining to comment further.

President Barack Obama has pushed Japan to adhere to the 2006 agreement, part of a $10.3 billion plan that would also relocate 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to Guam. Hatoyama campaigned on scrapping the accord, in response to local complaints of crime and pollution, and the dispute has overshadowed the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty.

Hatoyama’s popularity has plummeted since taking office in September, with voters and members of his own party criticizing his decision-making. DPJ lawmaker Kozo Watanabe last week said Hatoyama will have to step down should he fail to resolve the base issue.

The prime minister’s approval rating fell to 33 percent, a Yomiuri newspaper poll published April 5, down from 75 percent when he took office in September.

Last Updated: April 14, 2010 04:39 EDT

Marine Presence on Okinawa Essential to Security, Morrell Says

By Viola Gienger

March 30 (Bloomberg) -- Defense Secretary Robert Gates told Japan’s top diplomat that the presence of U.S. Marines on Okinawa is “essential” to providing security for the country and the region and that any solution must be “sustainable,” a Pentagon spokesman said.

Japan’s new government is negotiating with the U.S. over a long-planned relocation of the Futenma Marine Air Station on Okinawa after local leaders began pressing for it to be moved off the island.

“It needs to be politically and operationally sustainable for the Marines to remain in Okinawa so that they can meet the treaty commitments that we have to the government of Japan,” Defense Department spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters at the Pentagon today. The Marines’ presence is “essential,” he said, “so that we can provide, by their presence, for the security of Japan as well as for regional peace and security.”

Last Updated: March 30, 2010 14:05 EDT

Marine base will remain in Okinawa: vice minister

Thursday, March 4, 2010
Bloomberg

The government will keep a U.S. Marine base on Okinawa, meeting the U.S. demands, even if that means alienating a coalition partner and local residents, a vice defense minister has said.

Okinawans, many of whom want the base moved out of the prefecture, will be offered "compensation" in return for accepting the government's decision, Akihisa Nagashima, said Tuesday, without elaborating. His remarks are the most definitive by a member of the government indicating Japan will keep the Futenma air station in Okinawa.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has set a May deadline for settling a dispute that has overshadowed the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan security treaty. Almost 50,000 U.S. service members are stationed in Japan, more than half of those in Okinawa.

Any solution "must be operationally doable to the U.S.," said Nagashima. In regard to the coalition, "the question is whether we get a divorce and go our separate ways, or find a political compromise," he said.

President Barack Obama has pushed Japan to honor a 2006 agreement signed by a previous government to move the Futenma base within Okinawa despite complaints from residents about pollution, crime and noise.

Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan campaigned on scrapping the accord, part of a $10.3 billion plan that would also relocate 8,000 marines to Guam.

The Social Democratic Party has threatened to quit the coalition unless the base is moved out of Okinawa. Nagashima said the government's minority partner, which has 12 seats in the Diet, must be realistic.

Asked whether that meant the SDP would have to accept this solution, Nagashima said: "Right."

Nagashima, one of two parliamentary vice defense ministers, is a former senior fellow on the Council of Foreign Relations and obtained a master's degree at the John Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. First elected to the Lower House in 2003, he is the author of a book on the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

He cited that treaty as the primary reason for keeping the base in Okinawa, saying "the Futenma issue could affect the core of Japan-U.S. relations. The center of the alliance is military cooperation," Nagashima said.

Japan Suggests Camp Schwab for U.S. Base, Asahi Reports

By Kazuyo Sawa

March 4 (Bloomberg) -- Japan suggested an alternative site for the relocation of a U.S. military base in the southern prefecture of Okinawa, the Asahi newspaper said, citing government officials it didn’t identify.

Under the plan, the Futenma air base would be relocated to Camp Schwab, and training facilities would be moved to other sites in southern Japan, the report said.

Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa and Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano made the proposal to U.S. Ambassador John Roos at a meeting on March 2, the report said.

Last Updated: March 3, 2010 18:04 EST

U.S. Base to Stay on Okinawa, Japanese Official Says

By John Brinsley and Sachiko Sakamaki

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s government will keep a U.S. military base on Okinawa, meeting the demands of the Obama administration, even if that means alienating a coalition partner and local people, a vice defense minister said.

Okinawan residents, who want the Marine base moved off the island, will be offered “compensation” for accepting the government’s decision, Akihisa Nagashima said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday, without elaborating. His remarks are the most definitive by a government member indicating the base will stay on Okinawa.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has set a May deadline for settling a dispute that has overshadowed the 50th anniversary of the U.S.-Japan security treaty. Almost 50,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in Japan, more than half on Okinawa, located 950 miles (1,530 kilometers) south of Tokyo.

Any solution “must be operationally doable to the U.S.,” said Nagashima, 48, a lawmaker with the ruling Democratic Party of Japan. In regard to the coalition, “the question is whether we get a divorce and go our separate ways, or find a political compromise,” he said. Meeting the May deadline “will be a very difficult path.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano, the government’s top spokesman, said today the base plan “isn’t finalized.” He added that the question of aid to Okinawa, which has Japan’s lowest per capita income, is a separate issue.

“I don’t think we should link them together,” Hirano told reporters in Tokyo.

U.S. Officials Due

The U.S. won’t pay compensation itself, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said in Washington in response to a question about Nagashima’s remarks. The U.S. is working closely with the Japanese government to relocate parts of the base as planned, Crowley said. “I would not suggest this will involve any particular payments by the U.S.,” he said.

Deputy Secretary of State James Steinberg, accompanied by National Security Council Asia affairs director Jeffrey Bader, is due to arrive in Tokyo tomorrow for meetings with Japanese officials.

The U.S. Defense Department referred to comments last week by spokesman Geoff Morrell, who said the agreement reached previously remains “fundamentally the best route” to reducing American forces on the island while ensuring security for Japan.

Local Complaints

President Barack Obama has pushed Japan to honor a 2006 agreement signed by a previous government to move the Futenma air base within Okinawa even amid local complaints of pollution, crime and noise. Hatoyama ousted the Liberal Democratic Party in August and campaigned on scrapping the accord, part of a $10.3 billion plan that would also relocate 8,000 Marines to the U.S. territory of Guam.

Japan’s Social Democratic Party has threatened to quit the coalition unless the base is moved off Okinawa. Nagashima said the government’s minority partner, which has 12 lawmakers, must be realistic.

Asked whether that meant the Social Democrats would have to accept this solution, Nagashima said: “Right.”

Nagashima, one of two parliamentary vice defense ministers, is a former senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and obtained a master’s degree at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington. First elected to the lower house of parliament in 2003, he is the author of a book on the U.S.-Japan security alliance.

He cited that treaty as the primary reason for keeping the base on Okinawa, saying “the Futenma issue could affect the core of Japan-U.S. relations. The center of the alliance is military cooperation.”

Last Updated: March 2, 2010 22:24 EST

Clinton Calls for Asia to Cooperate More on Economy, Security

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan

Jan. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton urged Asian and Pacific nations to boost cooperation to strengthen security, expand trade and jobs, and foster democracy and human rights in the region where the world’s fastest growing economies have emerged.

The Obama administration wants to play an active role in building Asia’s security and economic architecture, Clinton said, and will be looking to large and small Asian nations alike to “focus on action” through regional forums to solve problems such as nuclear proliferation, food security and climate change.

“No country, including the U.S., should seek to dominate these institutions,” Clinton said yesterday in a speech at the East-West Center in Honolulu. “But I believe that Asia benefits enormously from an active and engaged United States.”

Clinton stopped in Honolulu en route to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia, kicking off her fourth Asia-Pacific trip in her first year as secretary of state. Before her speech, she met with her Japanese counterpart in an effort to resolve a disagreement with the longtime ally over the relocation of a U.S. military base on the southern island of Okinawa.

“We look to our Japanese allies and friends to follow through on their commitments, including on Futenma,” she said, referring to a 2006 accord to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station. That deal has met resistance from the new Japanese government that took office last September.

‘Much Work’

“We have much work to do together, but I’m confident that our alliance is up to the task,” Clinton said after the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada failed to resolve the dispute.

Speaking hours later at the East-West Center where President Barack Obama’s mother, Ann Dunham, studied in the early 1970s, Clinton said the U.S. “can provide resources and facilitate cooperation in ways that other regional actors cannot replicate.”

She cited American leadership in the civilian and military responses to humanitarian crises including the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and last year’s cyclone damage in the Philippines.

Clinton cited numerous examples of senior Obama administration officials attending Asian regional meetings over the past year, including forums that had been ignored by President George W. Bush’s administration.

“The United States is back in Asia,” she said, and “it is here to stay.”

Collective Action

At the same time, Clinton said collective action is needed among all Asian nations, from long-standing world economic power Japan to rising powers China and India and emerging economies, including Vietnam.

“Systems that reward free riders and minimalist contributions are designed to fail,” she said.

Clinton called on the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ Regional Forum to “make good” on a vision laid out last year “to assume greater responsibilities for disaster relief and humanitarian operations,” and take more leadership on human rights issues, such as the suppression of democracy activists by Myanmar’s military rulers, which she said “have a substantial effect on regional peace and security.”

Praising the six-nation talks that have forged a united front among the U.S., South Korea, Japan, China and Russia to insist that North Korea dismantle its nuclear weapons program, Clinton said in her speech that the effort underscores “the potential of an informal arrangement to advance shared interests.”

Asked after her speech by a Chinese graduate student about U.S.-China relations, Clinton said the two nations “have differences,” while insisting they “won’t be knocked off course” by those disagreements.

Airbase Dispute

After the meeting with the Japanese foreign minister yesterday, Clinton said the U.S. would respect Japan’s process in resolving the dispute over the relocation of the U.S. airbase on Okinawa.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan promised in its campaign last year to “reexamine” the accord. Residents of Okinawa, which is home to half of the 50,000 U.S. forces stationed in Japan and has been the site of fatal accidents and crimes involving U.S. military personnel during the past half-century, have demanded the base be moved to another prefecture.

“The Japanese government has explained the process that they are pursuing to reach a resolution of the issues that they are working through, and we respect that. We remain of the opinion that the realignment roadmap is the way forward,” Clinton said yesterday, referring to the 2006 accord.

The dispute threatens to delay a $10.3 billion plan to build replacement facilities for a new base and relocate 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam. President Barack Obama in November called on Japan to resolve the matter “expeditiously.” Jan. 19 marks the 50th anniversary since the two countries signed a security treaty.

Last Updated: January 13, 2010 00:00 EST

Clinton, Japan’s Okada to Meet in Hawaii Amid Dispute

By Indira A.R. Lakshmanan

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada will meet in Hawaii Jan. 12, and are likely to discuss a disputed plan to shift U.S. forces, State Department spokesman Philip J. Crowley said today.

The U.S. and Japan are attempting to resolve differences over the location of some of the 50,000 U.S. military personnel based in Japan, half of them stationed on the southern island of Okinawa.

“I would suspect that the issue of the road map will come up” in the meeting between Clinton and Okada, Crowley said, referring to an accord between the U.S. and Japan to move the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Station to another location on Okinawa.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan, which took office in September, promised in its campaign to “reexamine” the accord. Residents of Okinawa, which has been the site of fatal accidents and crimes involving U.S. military personnel during the past half-century, have demanded the facility be moved to another prefecture.

Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia, told reporters in Washington today that the Obama administration wants the Hatoyama government to affirm its relationship with the U.S.

“Security issues are important in a complex and changing Asia, and we want a very clear set of statements on the part of the Japanese government of the desire to continue to work closely with us,” Campbell said.

Hatoyama said during a press conference in Tokyo Jan. 4 that he wants to resolve the dispute “within months.” He has resisted American pressure to implement a 2006 agreement to keep the base on the island, while declining to commit to another location in response to local complaints.

Building Plan

The dispute threatens to delay a $10.3 billion plan to build replacement facilities for a new base and relocate 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam. President Barack Obama in November called on Japan to resolve the matter “expeditiously.” Jan. 19 marks the 50th anniversary since the two countries signed a security treaty.

“I hope the foreign ministers can discuss the future of the Japan-U.S. alliance because this is an important year to start that,” Hatoyama said yesterday.

Clinton will be in Hawaii next week to give a speech on Asia-Pacific security cooperation, en route to Papua New Guinea, New Zealand and Australia, where she will meet officials to discuss security and political cooperation and global climate change.

To contact the reporter on this story: Indira Lakshmanan in Washington at ilakshmanan@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: January 7, 2010 15:45 EST

Japan Seeks Clinton Meeting to Discuss Okinawa Base Dispute

By Sachiko Sakamaki and Takashi Hirokawa

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Japan’s government is trying to arrange a meeting between Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton as the two countries try to resolve a dispute over American troop deployments in Okinawa.

“I’d like a foreign ministers’ meeting to be held as soon as possible,” Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters today in Tokyo. “No meeting has been set yet.” Clinton visits Hawaii, Australia and New Zealand next week.

Hatoyama last month postponed resolving where to relocate the Marine Corps Futenma Air Base on Okinawa until May. He has resisted American pressure to implement a 2006 agreement to keep the base on the island, while declining to commit to another location in response to local complaints of crime and noise.

The dispute threatens to delay a $10.3 billion plan to build replacement facilities for a new base and relocate 8,000 U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam. President Barack Obama in November called on Japan to resolve the matter “expeditiously.”

Jan. 19 marks the 50th anniversary since the two countries signed a security treaty, under which almost 50,000 American military personnel are stationed in Japan providing for its defense.

“I hope the foreign ministers can discuss the future of the Japan-U.S. alliance because this is an important year to start that,” Hatoyama said.

Last Updated: January 6, 2010 21:30 EST

Hatoyama Says He’ll Focus on Japan Economy as Popularity Slumps

By Sachiko Sakamaki and Takashi Hirokawa

Jan. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose approval rating fell by a third since a landslide election victory in August, said his focus for 2010 will be to create jobs and fight deflation to revive Japan’s stuttering economy.

“Our honeymoon period is over,” Hatoyama said in a New Year statement released today. “I’d welcome severe criticism.”

Hatoyama’s tenure has been dogged by deteriorating ties with the U.S., whose troops help defend Japan, and cabinet bickering over spending priorities for a government laden with the world’s largest public debt. His personal reputation was tarnished last month when two former aides were charged with falsifying his campaign finances and he was forced to pay about 600 million yen ($6.5 million) in gift taxes.

Japan unveiled a record $1 trillion budget on Dec. 25 designed to lift the spending power of households and switch the economic focus from public works spending. The extra yield on 30-year government bonds compared with two-year notes is trading at close to a four-year high, reflecting concern the administration may struggle to contain a debt load that is approaching 200 percent of gross domestic product.

“I’ll devote myself to enacting an extra budget and next fiscal year’s budget speedily,” Hatoyama said. “Economic recovery, securing jobs and defeating deflation are the people’s urgent hopes.”

Japan’s jobless rate rose for the first time in four months in November to 5.2 percent and consumer prices fell for a ninth month. A government report on Dec. 28 showed that monthly wages slumped for the 18th straight time. Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii, 77, was admitted to hospital on the same day suffering from high blood pressure.

Approval Rating

Hatoyama’s cabinet had an approval rating of 50 percent in a Nikkei newspaper survey published Dec. 28, down from 75 percent in September. The Dec. 25-27 Nikkei Inc. and TV Tokyo Corp. poll canvassed 1,597 households.

Further complicating matters is a lingering dispute with President Barack Obama over where to move the U.S. Futenma Air Base on Okinawa, home to more than half the 47,000 American military personnel stationed in Japan. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton summoned Japan’s ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki on Dec. 21 to reiterate that the U.S. expects Hatoyama to honor a 2006 agreement on the base signed by the previous government.

“We would like to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance,” Hatoyama said in his New Year address, adding that he also wants to ease the burden on the people of Okinawa.

Hatoyama repeated an apology he made on Dec. 24 after prosecutors charged two of his former assistants with falsifying the source of 400 million yen of campaign funds. The next day he paid taxes he owed after receiving cash gifts from his mother, Kyodo News reported.

Last Updated: December 31, 2009 19:32 EST

SDP Says May Quit Japan Coalition Over Base Issue

By Sachiko Sakamaki and
Takashi Hirokawa

Dec. 3 (Bloomberg) -- The head of Japan’s Social Democratic Party said it may leave Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama’s coalition unless the government moves a U.S. military base off of Okinawa against the wishes of the Obama administration.

“The SDP and I have a major decision to make if the Cabinet decides” to keep the U.S. Marine Corps Futenma Air Base within Okinawa, Mizuho Fukushima said at the beginning of a meeting of her party in Tokyo. She is also Hatoyama’s minister in charge of addressing Japan’s declining birthrate.

Hatoyama came into office in September pledging to alter a 2006 U.S.-Japan agreement to relocate the base on Okinawa, host to more than half of the 47,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan. Like the SDP, his Democratic Party of Japan wants to move the facility off the island in response to local complaints about crime, noise and pollution.

The Democratic Party won a landslide victory in parliamentary lower house elections in August, winning 311 of 480 seats. Short of an outright majority in the less powerful upper house, it needs help from the SDP’s 5 seats in the chamber to ensure smooth passage of legislation. Fukushima’s group also has 7 lawmakers in the lower house.

While he and U.S. President Barack Obama agreed last month in Tokyo to resolve the dispute “expeditiously,” Hatoyama last night said an agreement was unlikely by the end of the year. The U.S. has shown no sign of compromising on the issue. Officials from both countries meet again tomorrow in Tokyo.

Hatoyama said today he wants to resolve the issue as soon as possible by considering the views from his coalition, which also includes the People’s New Party led by Financial Services Minister Shizuka Kamei.

“We must accept the views of our coalition partners including the SDP,” Hatoyama told reporters today in Tokyo. “I haven’t said we must draw a conclusion by the year’s end, and yet remain unchanged on our stance that we must hurry in coming to a conclusion as soon as possible.”

Hatoyama also said he thinks it’s possible to have “flexibility” in implementing a 2006 road map on U.S. troop relocation agreed by the U.S. and Japan. The construction of a replacement facility of Futenma is targeted for completion in 2014, according to the agreement.

Last Updated: December 3, 2009 03:57 EST

Japan Seeks Review of U.S. Troop Prosecution Pact, Nikkei Says

By Fergus Maguire

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Japan wants an agreement that protects U.S. soldiers from criminal prosecution in Japan to be reviewed every three years, Nikkei English News said, without citing anyone.

Japan’s government yesterday decided to propose the change to the U.S. in exchange for consenting to have the U.S. Futenma Air Base relocated within the island of Okinawa, the report said.

Currently U.S. military personnel suspected of committing a crime off base can be handed over to Japanese authorities prior to indictment only in serious cases, the report said.

Last Updated: November 26, 2009 16:26 EST

Japan Proposes Moving Training Away From U.S. Base, Nikkei Says

By Peter J. Brennan

Nov. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Flight training exercises may be moved further away from the Futenma air base in Okinawa to reduce the risk of accidents to nearby civilian residents, the Nikkei English News said, citing unidentified people close to Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama.

Last Updated: November 24, 2009 12:11 EST

Ex-Hatoyama Aide’s Indictment Won’t Hurt Premier, Deputy Says

By Takashi Hirokawa

Nov. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The possible indictment of a former aide to Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama won’t impede the government from implementing policies, Cabinet officials said.

Tokyo prosecutors may charge Hatoyama’s former secretary with violating campaign financing laws, the Asahi newspaper said today, without naming the aide or citing a source for the information. Hatoyama, who became prime minister in September, apologized in June after his political fund management body used the names of dead people to make false finance reports and said he had fired the person in charge, without identifying anyone.

“This is not something that will shake the government,” Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan told reporters today in Tokyo. “This is something the people will make their own judgments about.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano said at a press conference that the government will “wait and see” what prosecutors decide to do about the case before commenting.

Hatoyama in June said the funds in question totaled 22 million yen ($247,500), none of which involved illegal donations. The Asahi newspaper today said the former aide was suspected of misrepresenting the sources of about 200 million yen in donation between 2005 and 2008.

Last Updated: November 23, 2009 22:16 EST

Obama Pushes Japan as Both Sides Work on Base Dispute

By John Brinsley and Sachiko Sakamaki

Nov. 11 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama says he expects Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama to honor an agreement on American troops in Japan as the two countries work to keep the issue from overshadowing this week’s summit.

Hatoyama took office two months ago having pledged to alter a 2006 accord that would relocate the Futenma Air Base within the island of Okinawa, host to more than half of the 47,000 U.S. troops stationed in Japan. His Democratic Party of Japan wants to move the facility off the island in response to local complaints about pollution, noise and crime.

Obama, in an interview yesterday with NHK Television, said Japan should keep to the agreement. The two countries later agreed to create a cabinet-level working group to resolve the dispute, which threatens to delay a $10.3 billion plan to ease Okinawa’s burden by moving 8,000 Marines to Guam.

Both sides “will try to de-focus the issue by postponing a final decision,” former Japanese ambassador to the U.S. Shunji Yanai said in an interview. “Under the present circumstances, there’s no other choice. The issue will not be resolved during President Obama’s visit and that will increase the frustration on the U.S. side.”

The leaders will meet in Tokyo on Nov. 13 to discuss the war in Afghanistan, climate change and North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. It will be their second summit since Hatoyama, citing Obama’s call for change as his inspiration, cast out the party that had governed Japan more half a century.

Naval Refueling

Japan yesterday moved to ease any U.S. resentment over Hatoyama’s decision to end a naval refueling mission in support of the war in Afghanistan by pledging to give $5 billion in aid over five years to rebuild the country.

Hatoyama, 62, has called for a more equal relationship with the U.S. and his policies include a review of the bilateral security alliance that next year marks its 50th anniversary. Obama yesterday said that while the U.S. can be patient, Japan should keep its pledges.

“It’s perfectly appropriate for the new government to want to re-examine how to move forward,” Obama, 48, told NHK. “I’m confident that once that review is completed that they will conclude that the alliance we have, the basing arrangements that have been discussed, all those things serve the interest of Japan and they will continue.”

Okinawa Incidents

The DPJ favors changing the U.S.-Japan Status of Forces agreement that protects American troops from Japanese legal prosecution, and Okinawans for years have demanded reducing the military presence. In the latest of a series of incidents, an American serviceman is in U.S. custody on Okinawa in connection with a hit-and-run death of a local man four days ago.

Hatoyama yesterday told reporters that the U.S. should hand the suspect over to Japanese authorities.

Members of his cabinet have given conflicting statements on what to do about the base, further angering people on Okinawa. Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said on Oct. 23 that consolidating Futenma with the nearby Kadena Air Force base was “one idea.” Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa four days later said keeping the base in Okinawa “wouldn’t violate” the party’s election pledge.

Asked about the comment, Hatoyama the same day said, “I don’t necessarily agree.”

The U.S. may agree to relocate 24 F-15 fighters from Kadena to its Misawa base in northern Japan, theoretically making it possible to consolidate the two Okinawa bases, the Sankei newspaper reported today, without citing anyone.

Protest Rally

More than 20,000 Okinawa residents held a protest rally against the U.S. base on Nov. 7, the Associated Press reported.

“We Okinawans feel betrayed,” Democratic Party lawmaker Shokichi Kina said in an interview. “The prime minister and other DPJ officials campaigned for moving Futenma off Okinawa. They should keep this pledge to voters.”

Doing so would scuttle the plan to transfer the Marines to Guam, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said last month in Tokyo. It would also complicate Hatoyama’s stated intention to “deepen” Japan’s ties with the U.S.

Okada and U.S. Ambassador to Japan John Roos yesterday agreed in a meeting to set up a group to resolve the situation. It will include Okada, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Gates and Kitazawa. Okada said Roos told him the U.S. hasn’t changed its position.

Members of the Liberal Democratic Party, which governed Japan from 1955 with only one 10-month interruption until losing in September, have criticized Hatoyama for endangering Japan’s relationship with its biggest ally.

“The government is not fulfilling its responsibilities to the international community, the Japanese people, the Japan-U.S. alliance and Okinawa,” former defense chief Shigeru Ishiba said in an interview. “The most urgent task now is to remove the danger of Futenma as soon as possible and move forward with the relocation plan” on the island.

Last Updated: November 10, 2009 20:30 EST