ID :
42538
Sat, 01/24/2009 - 18:33
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/42538
The shortlink copeid
Yachi urges Japan to send civilians to Afghanistan for reconstruction+
TOKYO, Jan. 24 Kyodo - Japan should seriously consider sending civilians to Afghanistan to help its reconstruction, which U.S. President Barack Obama puts high emphasis on in the fight against terrorism, former Japanese Vice Foreign Minister Shotaro Yachi
said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.
''It is difficult under the current political situation (in Japan) to dispatch
the Self-Defense Forces to Afghanistan because it requires new legislation,''
Yachi said, referring to Japan-U.S. cooperation in Afghan reconstruction
following Obama's inauguration Tuesday.
''Japan should seriously consider sending civilians (to the country),'' he said.
Yachi, whom the Japanese government appointed Tuesday as its representative on
key diplomatic issues, also urged Japan to continue the refueling mission in
the Indian Ocean to facilitate multilateral efforts to rebuild the war-ravaged
country.
The former top bureaucrat of the Foreign Ministry suggested that Japan can also
consider increasing official development assistance to Afghanistan despite
Tokyo's dismal fiscal situation.
Yachi, meanwhile, called for increased policy coordination among Japan, the
United States and South Korea over the denuclearization of North Korea, saying
Tokyo and Washington have been at odds in dealing with Pyongyang over the past
two years by ''looking in different directions.''
Asked what kind of diplomacy he expects from the Obama administration, Yachi
said the new administration needs to establish its Asia policy immediately and
reaffirm the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
Former President George W. Bush had put 70 percent of emphasis in foreign
policy on the Middle East in his second four-year term, Yachi said.
On overall bilateral relations, Yachi said he expects Obama to continue most of
the policies regarding Japan pursued by his predecessor.
''The Obama administration is a suprapartisan government of national unity.
There are no major differences on Japan policies between the Democratic Party
and the Republican Party,'' Yachi said.
Asked about the transformation of the U.S. military presence in Japan, he said
a stalled plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in
Okinawa Prefecture could move forward if the Obama administration shows a
flexible stance on the issue.
''Japan and the United States need to talk about the issue soon,'' he said,
while acknowledging that the U.S. Defense Department has not allowed any change
from a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord, in which the relocation of the Futemma base by
2014 is a key component.
Japan's central government and the Okinawa prefectural government remain at
odds over a plan to construct an airfield in Nago, to which key functions of
the Futemma base in Ginowan will be relocated in line with the Japan-U.S.
accord.
Okinawa has demanded that the envisioned airfield with two 1,600-meter runways
in a V-shape formation that will use part of the coast of the U.S. Marine
Corps' Camp Schwab be moved offshore, citing concerns among residents over
safety and noise.
==Kyodo
2009-01-24 20:31:10
said in a recent interview with Kyodo News.
''It is difficult under the current political situation (in Japan) to dispatch
the Self-Defense Forces to Afghanistan because it requires new legislation,''
Yachi said, referring to Japan-U.S. cooperation in Afghan reconstruction
following Obama's inauguration Tuesday.
''Japan should seriously consider sending civilians (to the country),'' he said.
Yachi, whom the Japanese government appointed Tuesday as its representative on
key diplomatic issues, also urged Japan to continue the refueling mission in
the Indian Ocean to facilitate multilateral efforts to rebuild the war-ravaged
country.
The former top bureaucrat of the Foreign Ministry suggested that Japan can also
consider increasing official development assistance to Afghanistan despite
Tokyo's dismal fiscal situation.
Yachi, meanwhile, called for increased policy coordination among Japan, the
United States and South Korea over the denuclearization of North Korea, saying
Tokyo and Washington have been at odds in dealing with Pyongyang over the past
two years by ''looking in different directions.''
Asked what kind of diplomacy he expects from the Obama administration, Yachi
said the new administration needs to establish its Asia policy immediately and
reaffirm the importance of the Japan-U.S. alliance.
Former President George W. Bush had put 70 percent of emphasis in foreign
policy on the Middle East in his second four-year term, Yachi said.
On overall bilateral relations, Yachi said he expects Obama to continue most of
the policies regarding Japan pursued by his predecessor.
''The Obama administration is a suprapartisan government of national unity.
There are no major differences on Japan policies between the Democratic Party
and the Republican Party,'' Yachi said.
Asked about the transformation of the U.S. military presence in Japan, he said
a stalled plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station in
Okinawa Prefecture could move forward if the Obama administration shows a
flexible stance on the issue.
''Japan and the United States need to talk about the issue soon,'' he said,
while acknowledging that the U.S. Defense Department has not allowed any change
from a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord, in which the relocation of the Futemma base by
2014 is a key component.
Japan's central government and the Okinawa prefectural government remain at
odds over a plan to construct an airfield in Nago, to which key functions of
the Futemma base in Ginowan will be relocated in line with the Japan-U.S.
accord.
Okinawa has demanded that the envisioned airfield with two 1,600-meter runways
in a V-shape formation that will use part of the coast of the U.S. Marine
Corps' Camp Schwab be moved offshore, citing concerns among residents over
safety and noise.
==Kyodo
2009-01-24 20:31:10
