Marine base debate clouds US-Japan relations

[November 10, 2009]  TOKYO (AP) -- The deepening debate over the future of a major U.S. Marine base on the southern Japanese island of Okinawa has opened a broad rift in Washington's most important alliance in Asia ahead of President Barack Obama's visit to the region this week.

For decades, it has been a rallying point for Okinawans frustrated by the realities of sharing their tiny island with tens of thousands of American troops. So when Tokyo and Washington agreed three years ago to move Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to a less crowded place -- the product of nearly 12 years of talks -- the deal was hailed as a huge breakthrough.

Then Japan got a new government.

Now, with Obama visiting Friday and Saturday, Japan's fledgling liberal Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has put the plan on hold -- and the debate about the future of Futenma and its nearly 4,000 Marines is fast becoming a major test of their countries' alliance.

With China's influence and military strength rising rapidly and North Korea honing its nuclear and missile technologies, the U.S. security relationship with Japan is more vital than ever.

It's almost certain that Hatoyama and Obama won't resolve the Futenma issue at their brief weekend meeting, delayed by a day for Obama to attend a memorial service for victims of the Fort Hood shooting.

To project unity, the two leaders will likely reaffirm the importance of their alliance, and Hatoyama will highlight new aid for Afghanistan, given as his government plans to end a naval refueling mission in the Indian Ocean to support U.S.-led forces. Climate change and economic challenges will also be discussed.

Still, the reorganization of U.S. troops in Japan -- and Futenma in particular -- looms as the biggest issue between the two nations.

Senior American officials say that as long as the future of the Futenma base is on hold they can't move forward with a bigger effort to reshape their footprint in the Pacific -- including a plan to move 8,000 Marines from Okinawa to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

Some even wonder whether Tokyo's new administration can be trusted to carry that out, or, more importantly, if it wants to.

"What seemingly has been brought to the fore is the commitment on the part of this government to an agreement that we made with the Japanese government, between our two countries," Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said before a recent meeting with Japan's foreign minister. "We think it is urgent to examine and commit as rapidly as possible."

Tokyo has not been swayed.

Before taking office in September, Hatoyama said he wanted the base moved off Okinawa or pulled out of Japan completely. He has since essentially frozen plans to move the base to a location farther north on Okinawa by 2014 and vowed to "fundamentally review" a broader effort to reorganize the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan.

Hatoyama has tried to be careful not to upset the United States, but is also keenly aware of his campaign promise to lighten the load on the southern island of Okinawa, which hosts about 75 percent of all U.S. bases in Japan.

"This is an issue that needs careful consideration," Hatoyama said under sharp questioning in parliament last week by members of the staunchly pro-U.S. Liberal Democratic Party, which signed off on the 2006 Okinawa deal. "We must not hurry to a decision."

That stance has not gone over well in the Pentagon.

In two high-profile and unusually pointed visits intended to pave the way for Obama's visit, Mullen and Defense Secretary Robert Gates bluntly told Tokyo they wanted Japan to sign off on the realignment plan in time for the president's arrival.

Japan has long been one of Washington's most reliable military partners. It pays more than $2 billion a year to support the U.S. troops -- more than any other host nation.

Along with hosting the biggest overseas U.S. Marine contingent that is not in a war zone, Japan is the home port for the U.S. 7th Fleet, including the USS George Washington aircraft carrier and its battle group, and several important U.S. Air Force bases.

The U.S. military presence in Okinawa is an emotional issue as well.

More than 20,000 people joined a protest against the military presence on Okinawa on Sunday, in one of the biggest demonstrations since outrage over the 1995 rape of a schoolgirl by two Marines and a sailor pushed U.S. military and Japanese government officials to negotiate the realignment plan in the first place.

Kenzo Fujisue, a senior member of Hatoyama's party and an expert on relations with the U.S., acknowledged that Hatoyama's position on Futenma has caused growing concern in Washington, but stressed that Japan must make its own decisions.

"It is good for Japan to discuss this thoroughly and squarely, rather than being a yes-man, as it used to be," he said.

Even so, Japan remains committed to the alliance.

"It would be unthinkable for us to suddenly shift away from our ongoing alliance with the U.S.," Fujisue told The Associated Press. "The U.S. military presence itself is meaningful, as it provides an effective deterrence."

[Associated Press; By ERIC TALMADGE]

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi contributed to this report.

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