Japan FM: US Marine base should stay on Okinawa

[October 23, 2009]  TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's new government moved Friday to defuse a deepening rift with Washington over the future of a major U.S. Marine airfield, saying it supports keeping the sprawling base on the southern island of Okinawa, although in a less populated area.

Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada, under intense pressure from top U.S. military officials in Tokyo to push the matter this week, said that moving the base -- now located in the crowded city of Futenma -- off of tiny Okinawa "is not an option."

It was his government's clearest statement to date that it will implement a sweeping pact negotiated with Washington years ago that would relocate the base and move some 8,000 Marines to the U.S. territory of Guam in the Pacific.

"Starting from scratch on other ideas would not serve the best interests of the people of Okinawa," Okada said. He said, however, that it will be difficult to completely resolve the issue in time for President Barack Obama's Nov. 12-13 visit to Japan.

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Okada's comments came after U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, met with senior officials in Tokyo to urge Japan's new government, which took office last month, to act quickly on the Futenma issue.

Earlier in the day, Mullen said Japan needed to commit to the relocation of the Futenma air station "as soon as possible" and added that the new Japanese government's decision to re-examine the existing realignment agreement could derail the overall timeline.

Mullen's comments underscored increasing concern in Washington over whether Japan's government, under former opposition leader Yukio Hatoyama, was having second thoughts about key elements of the agreement, which took 15 years to negotiate with Japan's previous conservative administrations.

Earlier this week, Gates told Hatoyama he wanted to see progress ahead of Obama's visit and warned the whole deal could collapse if the base relocation falls through.

Adding to the frustrations, Hatoyama, who has vowed to put Tokyo's relations with Washington on a more even footing, had repeatedly said he did not intend to rush to a decision.

Okada, however, acknowledged the issue needs to be addressed urgently.

"We should not spend too much time on this," he said after meeting Mullen. "Our time is limited."

Hatoyama on Friday also said that the matter should be resolved "sooner than later," but did not elaborate.

In a package that includes relocating the Futenma facility, U.S. and Japanese officials agreed three years ago to shift 8,000 Marines on Okinawa to Guam by 2014.

While the existing plan would lighten Okinawa's share of hosting more than half of the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan, it has met with resistance from opponents who want the base closed completely and not replaced, or moved off Okinawa altogether.

Such opposition has stalled efforts to settle on a final plan for where the base should be relocated, although the area around an existing base called Camp Schwab, which is in a less crowded part of Okinawa, remains the most likely candidate. Moving the operations to Kadena Air Base, which is also on Okinawa, has been proposed as well.

Futenma is used by helicopters, transport planes and other aircraft as the primary air support base for the more than 10,000 U.S. Marines based on Okinawa. U.S. officials have argued that it must stay somewhere on Okinawa to be close to the Marines on the ground.

Mullen on Friday said he understood Hatoyama's desire to review the pact, but was concerned further delays could put the whole plan behind its deadline.

"We're barely on track with what was laid out in 2006," Mullen told reporters. "When you start falling behind, you don't fall behind by days, you start falling behind exponentially."

Okada's statement appeared aimed at easing such concerns and stressing that Tokyo is not willing to sacrifice its relations with its most important ally and a key trading partner.

"I don't think we have any disputes or serious problems between us," Okada said after meeting Mullen. "There is no need to overreact. I believe that the United States understands that we cannot simply accept everything just because an agreement is already made."

[Associated Press; By ERIC TALMADGE]

Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.

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