Ambassador Thomas Schieffer Speaks to Okinawa Business Leaders

TRANSCRIPT

Ambassador J. Thomas Schieffer
Remarks to Okinawa Association of Corporate Executives
Loisir Hotel Okinawa
Naha, Okinawa

February 13, 2006

AMBASSADOR SCHIEFFER: Thank you very much. This is my second visit to Okinawa, and I have really enjoyed it. Yesterday I had a chance to go down to the aquarium and see it, and I want to compliment you. It is a world-class facility, and it is the most impressive aquarium that I have ever seen.

It is a great honor for me to be here today. The Okinawa Association of Corporate Executives is an important part of the Okinawa business community. Your strong voice has helped build a friendship between America and the Okinawan people.

The friendship between our two countries is unique in the world. Borne out of conflict, it has come to epitomize the power of freedom to transform bitter enemies into close, prosperous and powerful friends. Sixty years ago, few would have thought that the United States and Japan could enjoy the kind of relationship that we have today. It has come to be because both our societies share the same core values of freedom - values that give dignity and respect to the individual and hope and opportunity to the masses.

Friendship is never appreciated more than in a time of tragedy. Last summer, in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita, Japan came through for America. At the government, corporate, and individual level, Japanese reacted with extraordinary generosity to the plight of ordinary Americans caught up in the disaster. From the collection boxes on the streets, to a Japanese businessman walking into my office and donating $1 million, to every member of the Diet contributing to the relief effort, the Japanese people time and time again said that they wanted to help Americans. May I take this opportunity to express our deep appreciation to the people of Okinawa and Japan for the compassion you showed America.

Let me turn now to the alliance that has grown out of our friendship. Never has it been stronger. It is emblematic of the close and personal friendship shared by our two leaders, President Bush and Prime Minister Koizumi. Sons of fathers who fought on opposite sides in the war, these two world leaders know that the fate of each of us is inexorably tied to the success of our relationship. Their summit last November demonstrated once again that we are committed to a growing and evolving alliance that will serve the individual and mutual interests of each of our great countries.

For America, the alliance is the linchpin of our whole foreign policy in Asia. The American-Japanese alliance has provided for the security of both of our countries in the Pacific. That security, in turn, has allowed our economies to prosper without suffering again from the devastation of war.

Now we are engaged in talks designed to transform that 20th century alliance into one capable of meeting the security challenges of the 21st century. One of the great challenges we face will be adjusting to the world order that has emerged from the collapse of the Soviet Union and the events of September 11th.

The economic rise of China and India present both challenge and opportunity. We must encourage both to be active contributors to the well being of the international order without endangering the peace and stability of their neighbors. At the same time, all of us - every member state of the international community - must guard against the threat of transnational terrorism. Civilization as we know it will cease to exist if terrorists are allowed to roam among us. All of us must come together to defeat terrorism, the bane of our time.

And yet our friendship and alliance extend far beyond security matters. Together, we are a formidable force for good in the world. Our two economies are far and away the largest. We produce more, earn more, and give away more than any two nations in history. But we are not just about money. We have responded to tsunamis, earthquakes, hurricanes, and disease with a compassion that relieves suffering and offers hope for a better day for victims caught in the midst of these natural tragedies. So too, do we support the institutions that bring democracy and freedom to the oppressed. Tyranny knows it has a formidable foe in the alliance of the United States and Japan.

Here in Okinawa, we often hear of the burden borne by Okinawans in the defense of both the United States and Japan. It is true that you bear a heavy burden for all of us. But at the same time, we hope you realize that all of us have burdens to bear when it comes to the defense of our countries and the peace of the world. Americans spend a little less than 4% of our gross domestic product on national defense. Japan spends less than 1%. In real dollars, Americans spend more than ten times as much on defense as the Japanese. Over the last four years, our defense spending has almost doubled while the Japanese spending in real dollars has actually declined. This increased American spending has produced greater capacity in our military forces, which in turn creates greater capability in the alliance between our two countries, and that translates into more security for Japan. American soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines serve throughout Japan, and they do so with pride and honor for their country and yours. But as much as they enjoy living here and as lovely as Japan is, they would rather be with family and friends at home. And by the way, it would be cheaper for the United States taxpayer if that were possible. But that is not possible, because the risks of a dangerous world cannot be ignored. The presence of American troops here in Okinawa and the rest of Japan has made all the difference in the cause for peace. For sixty years, the peace of Japan has been preserved because potential enemies have known that they would face the full force and effect of American power if they made war on Japan. That peace and security has allowed Japan to build the second largest economy in the world, an economy that in turn has given the Japanese people an opportunity to regain the dignity and respect that they deserve in the international community.

The defense of Japan presents heavy burdens to the people of Okinawa. The defense of Japan presents heavy burdens to the rest of Japan. The defense of Japan presents heavy burdens to the United States. But Okinawans, Japanese, and Americans bear those burdens because they understand that they are essential to the defense of liberty in Japan, America, and the rest of the world. Peace is not inevitable. We must work at it every day, and each of us must do our part.

All that said, we are now engaged in talks with Japan that are designed to reduce the number of Americans stationed here without reducing their capability to respond to the security threats of the future. We listened to the people of Okinawa when they said they wanted to reduce the number of Marines based here. We have offered to move 7,000 Marines to Guam. We listened to the people of Okinawa when they said they wanted Futenma back to stimulate local development and reduce the possibility of future accidents. We have offered to move from Futenma on the day that a replacement facility can open. There are many other things that we can do together to reduce the burdens each of us bear, but to accomplish them, we must work together in an atmosphere of honesty and cooperation. We must be prepared to act upon and not just talk about what needs to be done. We must treat each other in a way that befits the friends and allies that we are.

Let me also add at this point that we want to be good neighbors in the communities where we live. The United States remains committed to a goal of zero tolerance for criminal acts performed by American service personnel. We are deeply saddened when an American violates the law. We pledge to you that we will cooperate in every way possible to bring any wrongdoer to justice. Each of us wants the United States to be well thought of and respected for the ideals and values we hold. None of us wants America to be dishonored or disgraced by individuals who violate the law. Americans are not here to prey upon the innocent; we are here to protect the innocent.

Finally, I want to look to the future of the Japanese American friendship and alliance. We want this friendship and this alliance to reflect the best that is in the soul of both of our peoples.

There is much that needs to be done in the world. Poverty and disease are still with us. War and pestilence still visit too many places. Together, we have built the two greatest economies in the world. Together, we have secured the peace of Asia. And together, we look to the future with hope.

The world and Okinawa are very different places than they were sixty years ago. And they are much better places, more democratic, more prosperous, and more free than ever before. That didn't just happen. It happened because men and women of courage and vision made it happen. Our task is to live up to their courage and their vision. If we do so, I am confident that an American ambassador sixty years from now will address a group like this and extol the virtues of our friendship and emphasize the contributions that that friendship has made to a better world.

Domo arigato gozaimashita.

QUESTION: Regarding the transformation of US forces in Japan, the United States and Japan agreed on Futenma relocation in October. There has been opposition to this from Governor Inamine, the mayor of Nago, surrounding towns and villages, and fishermen and fisheries cooperatives. Given the local opposition to the Camp Schwab plan, Mr. Ambassador, do you think it would be better to revise the agreement?

AMBASSADOR SCHIEFFER: I think that what we did in October was to have a broad conceptual agreement as to what we would do, and that broad conceptual agreement was to have a facility built at Camp Schwab.

We are in the process now of negotiating the details of how that would be done. I think that if the people of Okinawa or the people of those local communities have suggestions to make that might improve the agreement, we have a duty to listen to them.

And I am hopeful that after the conclusion of those discussions, and that exchange of information, that we would be able to, in the details, reach an agreement that everyone could support.

QUESTION: Some are of the opinion that unless the Futenma relocation issue is resolved, there will not be progress on matters that will reduce Okinawa's burden, such as the return of bases south of Kadena and the reduction of 7,000 Marines. Mr. Ambassador, do you view these issues as a set that should be pursued in tandem and do you see a resolution to the Futenma question as a precondition?

AMBASSADOR SCHIEFFER: I think it is a package that we are talking about, and I believe we are narrowing our differences. I had an opportunity to meet with Governor Inamine this morning before this meeting, and he told me that basically he felt that the DPRI agreement could be accepted pretty much as it is, with the exception of the Futenma question. And my response to that was that we ought to try to figure out how we could resolve the Futenma question so that we could have an agreement that everyone could accept. And I am hopeful that in these next few months that we will be able to do that.

QUESTION: Again, on the relocation of Futenma, you said earlier that you should listen. Does this mean that if there is a local plan, one that is better than the coastal plan, that you are ready to consider it? Or will America put forward its own proposal?

AMBASSADOR SCHIEFFER: The negotiation is between the United States and the government of Japan, and we have reached a broad conceptual agreement on that negotiation. Having said that, I think we always should listen to people. If they can offer a better idea, then we should embrace it. And then, I don't think there is any harm in ever listening to people, but you have to listen to them sincerely and listen to them in the manner that they present their arguments. If those arguments are sincere, then I think that we have to listen to them. That doesn't mean that we will always agree at the end, but I think we have a duty as friends and allies to listen to one another and try to appreciate the point that each is trying to make. We want this agreement to work. And we want an agreement that will be able to be implemented. An agreement just for agreement's sake helps no one. But we think that these talks can produce something that will have a very positive effect on Okinawa, on Japan, and the United States. And that is the spirit in which we have entered these negotiations.

QUESTION: As you mentioned earlier, and as the Department of Defense has announced recently, China is becoming a threat. But at the same time, it is seeking a peaceful environment. In what areas do you view China as posing a threat? Also, what do you think about the state of Japan-China relations recently?

AMBASSADOR SCHIEFFER: I don't think that we have said that we consider China a threat. I think what we have said is that we hope that China can be integrated into the international community in a peaceful way, so that it enhances the security and stability of the international community. At the same time, we are concerned with the military buildup that has occurred in China, and we want to be sure that that military buildup is not a threat to the United States, or to Japan, or to our allies.

With regard to relations between Japan and China, those are matters the Chinese and Japanese have to resolve. But having said that, we would point out the fact that we have a better relationship with China today than we probably ever have had in our history. At the same time, we have the best relationship with Japan that we have ever had. And our relationship with China did not come at the expense of our relationship with Japan. On the contrary, we believe that our good relationship with Japan enables us to have a good relationship with China. And while both China and Japan enjoy great relationships with the United States right now, I think that Japan and China are somewhat anxious when it comes to the relations that they have with each other. That's understandable given the fact that the whole international order is in the process of redefining itself. Japan and China each have to be comfortable with the new position that they are occupying in that redefined international order. Ifm quite hopeful they can resolve those differences, but obviously there's a lot of work to do right now.

QUESTION: The Japanese government is saying that there will not be major changes to the agreed-upon coastal plan. But listening to you today, Mr. Ambassador, I get the feeling that you are more flexible than the Japanese government regarding revisions. Is that correct? Some have called for Futenma to be relocated outside the prefecture. Is that something you would consider? Additionally, the previous mayor of Nago has said that a plan closer to the shore than the original offshore plan could be considered. Is this something you would consider?

AMBASSADOR SCHIEFFER: I think what I have tried to say was that, conceptually, we have made a broad agreement with the government of Japan, and conceptually, that agreement includes a provision that Futenma would be relocated here within Okinawa Prefecture. I don't see that changing. All I am saying is, as we engage in the negotiations on the details of that conceptual agreement, I don't see any harm in listening to people to see if they have a better idea. At the end of the day, we may wind up exactly where we are right now. But at the end of the day, if somebody has a better idea, we should be willing to embrace it.

QUESTION: I think a lot of work is going on to try to wrap up the negotiations. What do you think are the chances that an agreement will be reached by the end of March?

AMBASSADOR SCHIEFFER: I think we will have a final report by the end of March. I think both sides are working very hard to do that. I think that negotiations are very difficult; if it were easy, we would have already done it. But I think both sides recognize that there is the opportunity to transform this alliance, and this is the moment to seize that opportunity. And because they realize that and because they are approaching it with seriousness, I am quite hopeful that we will be able to conclude the negotiations and get the final report in by the end of March.

Domo arigato gozaimashita.

Publisher dismayed by Japanese nationalism

By Norimitsu Onishi
Published: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2006

TOKYO: At day's end, it was perhaps one of the few things over which he held no sway, the relentless logic of aging, that made Tsuneo Watanabe, Japan's most powerful media baron, decide to step out of the shadows.

For years, most Japanese had caught only glimpses of the man, usually leaving, late at night, one of his favorite ryotei - the members-only redoubts where Watanabe dined with fellow power brokers and received supplicants.

Reporters would swarm around him as he made his way toward his black sedan, peppering him with questions on the day's topic, and he would oblige them with imperious one-liners that made him the embodiment of the arrogant, ultimate insider.

But Watanabe, now nearly 80 years old, has stepped into the light. He has recently granted long, soul-baring interviews in which he has questioned the rising nationalism he has cultivated so assiduously in the pages of his main newspaper, The Yomiuri Shimbun, which with a circulation of 14 million is the world's largest.

Now, he talks about the need to revisit Japan's wartime history and reflects on his wife's illness and his own, as well as the fresh joys of playing with his new pet hamsters.

Struck by his own sense of mortality but still in the saddle, Watanabe seems ruffled that his power may be waning. He has railed against Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who he says just does not listen to him anymore.

"Before, early on, he used to listen to me sometimes," Watanabe told a television interviewer.

During a two-hour interview at his office, where he presides over the newspaper, Japan's most popular baseball team and the rest of the Yomiuri Media Group's empire, he puffed on one of the three pipes on the coffee table before him.

He was a man in a hurry, in a hurry to change Japan, no less, by forcing it to confront, understand and judge its wartime conduct and to set it on the correct path as his testament to the nation.

"I'll be 80 years old this year," he said. "I have very little time left." His first move was an editorial last June criticizing Koizumi's visits to the Yasukuni Shrine, the Shinto memorial where 14 Class A war criminals, including the wartime prime minister, Hideki Tojo, are deified.

This was an about-face for The Yomiuri Shimbun, a conservative publication that had been moving rightward in recent years and tended to react viscerally against foreign criticism of the Yasukuni visits.

Indeed, Watanabe's Yomiuri was a main force in pushing for the kind of stronger Japan now emerging. Shortly after becoming editor in chief in 1991, Watanabe set up a committee to revise the Constitution, a pacifist document imposed by the United States under General Douglas MacArthur. If MacArthur's Constitution emasculated Japan by forbidding it from having a real military, Watanabe's constitution, published in 1994, restored its manhood.

Now, it seems only a matter of time until Japan completes the process that Watanabe started years ago.

Still, Watanabe seems troubled by some aspects of the nationalist movement he helped engender. The editorial, which reflected his worries about Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors, sent shock waves through the political world. It called for the building of a secular alternative to the shrine and bluntly said the country's prime minister did not understand history.

Nowadays, Watanabe is unsparing in his criticism. Koizumi worships at a shrine that glorifies militarism, said Watanabe, who equates Tojo with Hitler.

"This person Koizumi doesn't know history or philosophy, doesn't study, doesn't have any culture," Watanabe said. "That's why he says stupid things, like, 'What's wrong about worshipping at Yasukuni?' Or, 'China and Korea are the only countries that criticize Yasukuni.' This stems from his ignorance."

Like many of postwar Japan's leaders with wartime experience, Watanabe is a conservative and a realist. He remains suspicious of the irrational and emotional appeals to nationalism used increasingly these days by those who never saw war.

In his high school in Tokyo, he said, military officials visited regularly to instill militarism in the young.

"I once instigated my classmates to boycott the class and shut ourselves in a classroom," he recalled. "We were punished later."

When he entered the army as a private second class, the war was already in its last stage. Japan kept on fighting despite the certainty of defeat. In desperation, the military began dispatching kamikaze pilots, whom the Japanese far right glorifies as willing martyrs for the emperor.

"It's all a lie," he said angrily, "that they left filled with braveness and joy, crying, 'Long live the emperor!' They were sheep at a slaughterhouse. Everybody was looking down and tottering. Some were unable to stand up and were carried and pushed into the plane by maintenance soldiers."

After graduating from the University of Tokyo and flirting with communism after the war, Watanabe joined The Yomiuri Shimbun in 1950 and quickly made his mark as a political reporter.

To this day, political reporters in Japan tend to succeed by becoming close to a particular politician, earning scoops while shielding him and becoming insiders.

According to a 2000 biography, "Watanabe Tsuneo, Media and Power," by Akira Uozumi, Watanabe ingratiated himself so much with one Liberal Democratic heavyweight, Banboku Ohno, that he became the gatekeeper at his house and rode in his car.

Politicians seeking favors from Ohno would ask Watanabe to put in a good word. One young politician helped by Watanabe was Yasuhiro Nakasone, the future prime minister. They remain famously close.

Such was Watanabe's power that by the 1980s, and especially after he was made the newspaper's editor in chief in 1991, he helped broker major political deals. In those exclusive ryotei, nationally known politicians prostrated themselves before the shadow shogun.

Ordinary Japanese only became aware of his existence in 1996, when he became the head of the media group's baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants.

"I'm not an ogre or a snake," Watanabe said with a smile, protesting that his one-liners were frequently twisted.

Nowadays, he is expansive, even on his own frailty.

But he is hardly ready for retirement, though. Convinced that Japan will never become a mature country unless it examines its wartime conduct on its own, Watanabe has ordered a yearlong series of articles on the events of six decades ago. Next August, the newspaper will pronounce its verdict.

The series and Watanabe's recent fierce attacks on Koizumi are said to have already shaken Japanese politics, as Koizumi prepares to retire next September. Even though Koizumi won a landslide election a few months ago, attacks against his legacy are rising and allies have begun defying him.

Political analysts see Watanabe's hand, which he does not hide. The series, he said, has started changing the opinions of some politicians. But he is far more ambitious."I think I can change all of Japan," he said.

FOCUS: Experts praise Japan-U.S. ties, but see challenges

NEW YORK, Feb. 1 2006 KYODO

Japanese and U.S. political and economic experts recently expressed optimism about U.S.-Japan ties despite Japan's leadership change in September, while they raised concerns about how this may be challenged by Iran's nuclear issue, and touched on other topics such as Japan's diplomatic problems linked to the Yasukuni issue

The panel discussion, sponsored by the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry of New York on Jan. 25, brought together four experts on economic and political affairs.

The panelists were Michael Green, senior adviser and Japan chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies; Shinichi Kitaoka, a Japanese ambassador to the United Nations; Masato Mori, president and chief executive officer of Nippon Steel USA Inc.; and Motokazu Yoshida, chairman for the Americas and president and chief executive officer of Mitsui & Co. (U.S.A.), Inc.

''No matter how the midterm election will turn out, there is a bipartisan consensus on the importance of the U.S.-Japan security alliance,'' said Green, a former special assistant to the U.S. President George W. Bush for national security affairs and senior director for Asian affairs at the National Security Council.

Green said both Japan and the United States have come to see their ties as an alliance based on ''common values,'' unlike 15 years ago when the their relations were strained by trade friction.

But nuclear nonproliferation will be a major issue in the future, Green said. ''The Iranian issue will be increasingly difficult. So far, Japan has invested in Iranian oil fields while conducting a strong nonproliferation diplomacy at the International Atomic Energy Agency. But this will be a year in which Japan must choose one -- energy diplomacy or nonproliferation.''

Green said most U.S. government experts agree that Iran is seeking to obtain nuclear weapons.

On North Korea, Green said the agreement reached at six-nation talks last September was an ''important diplomatic step,'' but pointed out that North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has yet to make any strategic decision.

He also said North Korea's illegal activities, such as suspected counterfeiting and drug trafficking, are increasing, while diplomacy is making modest progress.

Green also praised the role of Japan's Self-Defense Forces in the international community and said that after the Iraq mission is over in 2006, Japan must think of the SDF's international role.

''It does not have to be Iraq. Personally, I think it is necessary for Japan's SDF to operate somewhere in the world. Sending personnel abroad is becoming an important pillar of the Japanese diplomacy,'' he said.

On Japan's relations with its neighboring countries such as China and South Korea, Kitaoka said that his opinion has not changed since he wrote a dissertation earlier calling for the creation of a secular memorial apart from the war-linked Yasukuni Shrine.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's shrine visits have strained Tokyo's ties with Beijing and Seoul, and have led to a halt in bilateral talks between the countries' top leaders following Koizumi's most recent visit to Yasukuni last Oct. 17.

Koizumi has visited the shrine once a year since taking office in 2001.

''Who is right and who is wrong -- diplomacy cannot be settled like that. Because of this (Yasukuni) problem, I feel that Japan's diplomatic options are being reduced,'' Kitaoka said.

Kitaoka said he used to attend a joint historical committee of Japanese and South Korean scholars, and said while the media's reporting of the committee's achievement was critical, he felt that the fellowship between the researchers was beginning to emerge.

''It was not a wasteful attempt. Different opinions cannot converge that easily. Rather, I strongly oppose such concept as 'integrating' historical interpretations. I believe that intellectual cognitions belong to an individual, and in that spirit, Japan should have a dialogue with China,'' Kitaoka said.

''Japan can take a fair and offensive approach on historical issues based on the deep and democratic freedom of learning. But when the discussion comes to the Yasukuni issue, Japan becomes defensive and cannot discuss any other issues,'' Kitaoka said.

Kitaoka said there are a number of cases in the world where the interpretations of historical events cannot be reconciled, and there are organizations working to resolve such problems, including the Institute for Historical Justice and Reconciliation in Salzburg.

''On the Palestinian issue, for example, the two sides will exchange maps and chronological tables, and that's all. But even such an exchange is better than none,'' he said, adding that the full reconciliation between Germany and Poland began only after the Cold War.

''We need to take a long-term approach on this (historical reconciliation) issue outside of the government framework, and it will be ideal if the government continues to support such an undertaking,'' Kitaoka said.

Green also expressed worry about the simmering tensions between the two Asian giants: ''What we should be concerned about (with) deteriorating relations between Japan and China, is not whether there would be a conflict or war -- these scenarios are not very likely -- but an overall strategic structure in Asia and Japan's diplomatic weight in Asia. This, I think, is directly linked to the national interest of the United States.''

Green said he believes that China's mid- to long-term strategy is to be a bipolar power with the United States -- with China representing Asia and America representing the West.

''If this structure becomes a reality, China does not have to democratize itself much. China can boost its economic and military power at its own pace,'' Green said.

==Kyodo

Money soothes Okinawa's stance over US troops

By David Pilling
Published: Jan 24, 2006

A US ambassador to Japan once referred to Okinawa, the tropical island chain in Japan's extreme south, as a bone stuck in the throat of the bilateral relationship. Yesterday, after a mayoral election victory that was supposedly favourable to Washington's strategic ambitions, that bone was still firmly lodged.

At stake in Nago City's election, contested on Sunday, was whether to allow the construction of a US Marine Corps facility. Relocation of the Marines' Futenma base in the south of the island to the more northerly Nago has become the sticking point in a much broader reshuffling of US troops in Japan, part of Washington's push to develop a more nimble global force, better suited to modern security threats.

Yoshikazu Shimabukuro, Nago's winning candidate, was heavily backed by Tokyo's ruling Liberal Democratic party, which last October signed a deal with Washington agreeing to the new base. Both the US and Japan expect Mr Shimabukuro to help persuade local residents to accept the new facility, at least part of which will be built on the sea and some of which is planned to be built inside Camp Schwab.

But if the newly elected mayor is supposed to smooth things over, he certainly was not showing it yesterday. In his election victory speech, Mr Shimabukuro branded the present proposal as unacceptable, saying he would only discuss it if substantial changes were made.

The call for further alterations to a plan that has been haggled over for a decade is merely the latest friction over Okinawa, which was occupied by the US after the second world war and returned to Japan only in 1972. Senior US officials, including Richard Lawless, deputy undersecretary of defence, have complained bitterly that Tokyo has allowed local politics to jeopardise Washington's security interests in Asia.

Masahide Ota, the former governor of Okinawa who has campaigned for the complete withdrawal of US bases, has a different viewpoint. From where he sits, Tokyo and Washington have colluded to ensure that Okinawa, where three-quarters of Japanese bases are located, bears the brunt of the US military burden.

"The Americans occupied Okinawa during the war and they feel Okinawa is their own territory," he says. "They still believe it is theirs to use as freely as they wish."

The Okinawan people's attitude to the bases is not easy to interpret, as the Nago election illustrates. So ostensibly opposed are Nago's citizens to hosting the base that all three candidates felt they had little choice but to campaign vigorously against it.

All said a marines facility would be too noisy, prone to helicopter crashes and damaging to the pristine marine environment.

Yet voters strongly backed Mr Shimabukuro, a candidate who, with a nod and a wink, made it clear he would be much more flexible on the base issue than his hardline opponents.

Why would Nago city residents vote in this seemingly ambiguous way? Masaaki Gabe, professor of international relations at the university of the Ryukyus, the name of the island kingdom before it was annexed by Japan in 1879, says it all boils down to money.

According to Prof Gabe, electing Mr Shimabukuro guarantees a continuation of the Y10bn ($87m) in annual development money paid by Tokyo to lubricate a deal. In a prefecture where 18 per cent of workers are employed by the building trade, agreement to host the base would bring lucrative construction contracts.

"Most Okinawans don't accept these bases," says Prof Gabe. "They say it is discrimination that there are so many bases here, but so few in the rest of Japan. So what the politicians do is give money to shut the Okinawans up."

Mr Ota says the dependence on military-related funding is not helping the economy but holding it back. "The central government says that without the military bases, the Okinawan government would go bankrupt.

"But this is entirely wrong," he argues, pointing to what he says is booming business in land occupied by former bases returned to the prefecture. Without the bases, Okinawa would be better off, he contends.

Tokyo does not give money only to Okinawa. Yesterday, on a visit to Japan, Robert Zoellick, US deputy secretary of state, thanked Tokyo for renewing a contribution of $1.2bn (€990m, £678m) to help keep about 50,000 US troops in Japan. Those payments, which began in 1978 when the US economy was flagging, are still widely referred to in Japan as "the Sympathy Budget".

But from the perspective of many Okinawans - the reluctant facilitator of Japanese and American security objectives - it is they, not Washington, who deserve sympathy.

Talks to intensify over Okinawa base

By David Pilling in Tokyo and
Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington, Financial Times
Published: Jan 19, 2006

The Pentagon and Japan's defence agency have agreed to accelerate discussions over relocating a US military base within Okinawa.

Last October, the US and Japan reached a deal under which Japan agreed to the reconfiguration of bases that will eventually lead to a reduction of 7,000 in the roughly 50,000 troops stationed in Japan.

That accord, reached after nearly a decade of wrangling, included the relocation of a Marines heliport from Futenma on Okinawa, the strategically important island in Japan's far south, where the bulk of the US military is located. The deal is part of a broader realignment of the US military globally, aimed at building a more flexible force better adapted to post-cold war security challenges.

During meetings with Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, in Washington, Fukushiro Nukaga, director-general of Japan's defence agency, agreed on the need for a concrete relocation plan by March.

Mr Nukaga said he had urged further compromises towards reaching an agreement. He declined to say what compromises he sought.

Takao Toshikawa, a political analyst, said the topic under discussion was almost certainly the relocation of the Futenma airbase heliport function to Nago.

US and Japanese officials said Mr Nukaga had not sought major concessions. A Japanese diplomat said Mr Nukaga was simply calling for "flexibility" during negotiations.

A US defence official said both sides underscored the importance of preventing minor obstacles from derailing the process.

The October agreement ran into opposition on Okinawa, where politicians and activists have vowed to fight it on grounds of environmental damage and the perception that Okinawa already has enough bases.

The resistance of Okinawa, a culturally distinct island prefecture often at odds with mainland Japan, calls into question Tokyo's ability to implement the deal struck at national level with Washington. At least two of the three candidates in this Sunday's mayoral election in Nago City, the proposed site of the heliport, have vowed outright opposition to the facility.

The third candidate, endorsed by the ruling Liberal Democratic party, has hinted that he may accept the base on some conditions. These could form the basis of Mr Nukaga's proposals, analysts said.

Peter Rodman, assistant secretary of defence for international security affairs, said the Japanese government would have to deal with its own domestic political issues.

Yoshitami Oshiro, the candidate for Nago mayor who has taken the strongest opposing stance, said: "If I win, both the Japanese and the US governments will have to give up the base."

Many Okinawans also oppose US bases because of the danger of aircraft or helicopters crashing into built-up surrounding residential areas.

Yesterday, aides to Keiichi Inamine, governor of Okinawa, called for the suspension of air drills after an F-15 fighter jet crashed into the sea on Tuesday.

Japan urges US compromise on base relocation

By David Pilling in Tokyo
Published: Jan 18, 2006

The director of Japan's defence agency on Wednesday urged the Pentagon to make compromises on the relocation of bases in Japan, a request that is likely to strain further the patience of Washington, which is already infuriated at the slow pace of negotiations.

The US considered final a deal struck last October, in which Japan agreed to the reconfiguration of bases that will eventually lead to a reduction of 7,000 in the roughly 50,000 troops stationed in Japan.

That accord, reached after nearly a decade of wrangling, included the controversial relocation of a Marines heliport on Okinawa, the strategically important island in Japan's far south where the bulk of the US military is located.

The deal is part of a broader realignment of the US military globally, aimed at building a nimbler force better adapted to post-cold war security challenges.

On Wednesday, after a meeting with Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, in Washington, Fukushiro Nukaga, director-general of the Japan's defence agency, said he had urged further compromises with the aim of concluding an implementation agreement by March.

Kyodo news reported that, in a briefing after the meeting, Mr Nukaga refused to say what compromises he had requested.

Takao Toshikawa, a political analyst, said the topic under discussion was almost certainly the relocation of the Futenma airbase heliport function to Nago, where it will be partly constructed on the sea.

The October agreement immediately ran into opposition in Okinawa, where politicians and activists have vowed to fight it on grounds of environmental damage and the perception that Okinawa already has enough bases.

The resistance of Okinawa, a culturally distinct island prefecture often at odds with mainland Japan, calls into question Tokyo's ability to implement the deal struck at national level with Washington.

At least two of the three candidates running in this Sunday's mayoral election in Nago City, the proposed site of the heliport, have vowed outright opposition to hosting the new US facility. The third candidate, endorsed by the ruling Liberal Democratic party, has hinted that he may accept the base on some conditions. These could form the basis of Mr Nukaga's proposals, analysts said.

Yoshitami Oshiro, the candidate for Nago mayor who has taken the strongest stand against the proposed new heliport, said: "If I win, both the Japanese and the US governments will have to give up the base."

Mr Toshikawa said: "Even if the candidate endorsed by the LDP wins, I think it will be very difficult to persuade the people of Nago City to accept the [Japanese] government's plan."

Many Okinawans also oppose US bases because of the danger of aircraft or helicopters crashing into the often built-up surrounding residential areas. on Wednesday aides to Keiichi Inamine, governor of Okinawa, called for the suspension of air drills following the crash of an F-15 fighter jet into the sea on Tuesday.

Nukaga urges Rumsfeld for compromise in realignment talks

WASHINGTON, Jan. 17 KYODO

Japan's Defense Agency Director General Fukushiro Nukaga urged U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in a meeting Tuesday to make some compromises in ongoing talks on realignment of the U.S. military presence in Japan.

Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Nukaga refused to specify what matters Japan wants the United States to compromise on, but said the two defense chiefs agreed to accelerate working-level talks to draft a unified implementation plan, possibly by the end of this month, in order to begin seeking local support before finalizing the plan by March.

Nukaga said he and Rumsfeld also agreed to discuss whether the two nations can issue a Nukaga-proposed ''political message,'' along with the final realignment accord in March, on the shape of the bilateral security alliance over the next 10-20 years after its transformation over the past 10 years into a global one.

On Japan's deployment of ground troops in Iraq, which has been extended for a year until Dec. 14, Nukaga indicated that Japan will decide when to withdraw them or whether to assign a new non-security mission there in line with what Britain and Australia do with the troops they have in charge of security operations in the Samawah area where the Japanese troops are carrying out rehabilitation work.

Nukaga, who arrived in Washington on Sunday, also met with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, who also underlined their commitments to realizing the realignment, Japanese officials said.

His visit came after the two nations held a senior working-level meeting last week in Washington and discussed draft detailed plans tabled by the United States for implementing a realignment agreement reached last October.

The October accord, which Tokyo regards as interim and which Washington sees as final, calls for crafting an implementation plan by March. It highlighted the removal of 7,000 U.S. Marine Corps troops in Okinawa, including 6,000 to Guam, and an alternative plan for relocating the Marines' Futemma Air Station within the prefecture.

But Okinawa and other affected local communities remain strongly opposed to the accord and have vowed to fight it.

Nukaga said he told Rumsfeld that a ''certain U.S. compromise is needed along with Japan's efforts'' in order to achieve a successful realignment, while stressing the importance of minimizing burdens on base-hosting local communities to win their support.

Rumsfeld called for prompt Japanese action to realize the U.S. military reconfiguration, emphasizing that ''speed and timing'' are the most important factors, according to Nukaga and Japanese officials.

On his proposal for a ''political message,'' Nukaga said it should reflect the realignment accord and the developments in the security alliance since the two nations issued a joint security declaration 10 years ago and underlined their alliance in the Asia-Pacific region.

Nukaga noted Japan's legislative actions to implement the bilateral defense guidelines that were based on the security declaration as well as various other measures hammered out to enable more global contributions such the dispatch of Japan's Self-Defense Forces to Iraq.

But on the SDF's mission in Iraq, Nukaga ruled out the possibility of the Japanese troops engaging in security operations, saying he emphasized to Rumsfeld that Japan's current law does not allow such a duty.

Referring to Britain's plan to reduce its troops in Iraq if security operations can be transferred to Iraqi forces, Nukaga said, ''We must consider the SDF's assistance based on such a development.''

In the October accord, the two nations upgraded their security relations to a global alliance and agreed to further integrate and share operations between the U.S. military and the SDF.

At the onset of the talks at the U.S. Defense Department, Nukaga expressed Japan's strong disappointment about the murder of a 56-year-old woman allegedly by an arrested U.S. Navy sailor in early January in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, the defense chief said.

Nukaga said he called for Rumsfeld's commitment to implement preventive measures and stricter discipline, while the U.S. defense chief expressed his deep regret over the incident.

==Kyodo