Japan, U.S. defense chiefs agree on stronger bilateral alliance

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WASHINGTON, May 2 Kyodo -
Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Friday he and U.S. Defense
Secretary Robert Gates agreed to reinforce the bilateral alliance as the two
nations review their respective defense strategies.
They also reaffirmed that Tokyo and Washington will step up cooperation in the
field of missile defense in view of North Korea's recent rocket launch, Hamada
told reporters after his meeting with Gates.
Hamada visited Gates at the Defense Department just outside Washington for
their first face-to-face meeting. They had held talks on the phone on April 2
prior to Pyongyang's rocket launch suspected of being a disguised test of a
long-range ballistic missile.
A Japanese official said Hamada and Gates concurred that the bilateral alliance
should be further beefed up through consultations on the two countries'
respective review of defense strategies.
The Japanese government is due to adopt new National Defense Program Guidelines
at the end of the year and the Pentagon is slated to conduct a Quadrennial
Defense Review next February.
Hamada was also quoted as suggesting Tokyo and Washington discuss the future
course of the bilateral alliance, alluding to the need for a new Japan-U.S.
Joint Declaration on Security to cope with global issues.
In February, he proposed starting consultations on the new declaration in his
talks with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tokyo because 2010 will
mark the 50th anniversary of the revised Japan-U.S. Security Treaty.
The original bilateral security declaration was signed in 1996 by then Japanese
Prime Minister Ryutaro Hashimoto and then U.S. President Bill Clinton. It
expanded the scope of the Japan-U.S. alliance -- which had hitherto been
configured for the Cold War era -- to one encompassing the entire Asia-Pacific
region.
Turning to North Korea, Gates embraced as favorable the close coordination
between Japan and the United States before and after the reclusive state's
rocket launch, the Japanese official said.
The U.S. defense chief was quoted as saying the U.N. Security Council statement
adopted to strongly condemn the launch was a result of the two countries'
partnership.
Gates was also quoted as pointing to the need for bilateral cooperation in the
military field, most notably missile defense.
On Gates' recent proposal for halting production of the F-22 fighter jet,
Hamada said Tokyo still wants to see the stealth plane as a candidate for its
next-generation mainstay striker, according to the Japanese official.
Gates was quoted as saying any exports of the F-22 are currently forbidden
under U.S. law and stopped short of explaining his own proposal in detail.
The F-22 has been Tokyo's top priority due to its ability to evade radar
detection, mobility at supersonic speed, and use by the U.S. Air Force, with
which Japan's Air Self-Defense Force would engage in joint operations in the
event of an attack on Japan.
As for the realignment of the U.S. military in Japan, Hamada vowed continued
efforts to help ease the burdens on Okinawa Prefecture, home to the bulk of
U.S. military facilities in the country, the Japanese official said.
''As the Okinawa question is a very sensitive matter, we need to try hard'' to
resolve it, the Japanese defense chief was quoted as saying.
To soothe local discontent over the concentration of U.S. bases in Okinawa,
8,000 of some 18,000 U.S. Marines in Okinawa and their 9,000 family members
will be moved to Guam by 2014, with Japan footing $6.09 billion, or 59 percent,
of the estimated $10.27 billion cost through grants, investments and loans.
Gates appreciated Japan's recent dispatch of its Maritime Self-Defense Force
destroyers to take part in an antipiracy mission off Somalia, the Japanese
official said.
The dispatch came against the backdrop of a surge in pirate incidents in the
waters. Other countries, such as the United States, European Union nations and
China, have also sent their navies in support of U.N. Security Council
resolutions on combating piracy off Somalia.
Hamada was quoted as briefing Gates on Tokyo's plan to send two of its P-3C
patrol aircraft for its antipiracy mission off Somalia by the end of this
month.
==Kyodo