Japan stays elusive on U.S. base issue ahead of Gates visit

TOKYO, Oct. 19 Kyodo -
Japan remained elusive Monday on how the Democratic Party of Japan-led
government will review or possibly even alter a 2006 Japan-U.S. accord on the
realignment of U.S. forces in Japan ahead of U.S. Defense Secretary Robert
Gates's imminent two-day visit to Japan from Tuesday.
''I don't think we have to decide on everything by the time Defense Secretary
Gates or President Barack Obama visits Japan,'' Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
told reporters. ''I would like to listen carefully to what he has to say (on
the relocation issue).''
''What's most important to consider is how we can lighten the burden on people
in Japan, especially people in Okinawa, in the quickest way possible,'' he
said, while also acknowledging the importance attached to what had been agreed
upon by Japan and the United States.
''We will consider the matter comprehensively and come to a conclusion at an
appropriate time,'' Hatoyama said, without elaborating on the timing.
In a related move, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano made remarks Monday
that could be taken as indicating Japan's readiness to alter the bilateral deal
under which the two countries agreed to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma
Air Station from Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture, to the city of Nago, also in
Okinawa, by 2014.
Asked if he thinks the government could move the facility from the densely
populated area within the 2014 time frame stipulated under the agreement,
Hirano said, ''We are currently considering such matters as whether the
Hatoyama administration can carry it out responsibly.''
''It is a deal between the two governments, but the fact that Japan has
experienced a change of government also weighs heavily,'' the top government
spokesman said at a morning press conference.
Tokyo and Washington agreed in May 2006, under the government led by the
Liberal Democratic Party, to relocate the U.S. military facility to a less
densely populated location off the coast of the U.S. Marine Corps' Camp Schwab
by 2014 as part of measures to realign U.S. military forces in Japan.
Hirano also said at his news conference in the afternoon that he had not meant
to suggest the things reported by the media, only repeating that the government
will deal with the issue flexibly based on the tripartite coalition accord
between the DPJ and its two coalition partners -- the Social Democratic Party
and the People's New Party.
Under the coalition accord, the government has pledged to ''work in the
direction of reviewing the nature of the realignment of U.S. forces and the
U.S. military bases in Japan from the viewpoint of reducing burdens on the
people of Okinawa.''
Hatoyama said, ''We should make efforts first to ensure the agreement is
kept,'' but added that there should be flexibility so that the two countries
can explore other options too.
Japan has been struggling to find a consensus on the relocation issue, but it
is likely that Gates will urge Tokyo to implement the existing accord on the
realignment during his visit to Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The new government has been verifying the past negotiation process leading to
the 2006 realignment accord since it took power in mid-September, and Hatoyama,
who heads the DPJ, has said the government will seek to move the heliport
functions of the Futemma facility outside Okinawa, or even outside Japan.
The comments by Hatoyama and Hirano followed remarks by a senior U.S. defense
official who signaled Washington's readiness to accept minor adjustments to the
relocation plan for the Futemma facility.
The senior Pentagon official, who recently spoke to reporters on condition of
anonymity, said the United States would consider moving its envisaged military
airfield further offshore than currently planned by around 50 meters, if Tokyo
were to propose it.
Last Friday, Hatoyama indicated it is unlikely that a decision will be reached
before the summer of 2010 on whether Tokyo will accept the 2006 Japan-U.S.
agreement to relocate the military facility within Okinawa or try to revise the
accord so the facility can be moved outside the prefecture.
''I think we will need a conclusion around the midpoint of the period between
the Nago city mayoral election (in January) and the Okinawa gubernatorial
election, which is expected around November next year,'' Hatoyama said Friday.
The U.S. official also warned that the relationship of mutual trust between the
two countries would suffer a setback if the existing deal on the realignment of
U.S. forces in Japan is not implemented.
''I don't think the unwavering relations of trust between Japan and the United
States will be broken down because of this,'' Hirano said. ''It is important
for both to make efforts to settle this so that relations won't fall apart.''
In a related development, Lt. Gen. Edward Rice, the top commander of U.S.
forces in Japan, met Monday with Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa.
Rice declined to comment on specific issues including the Futemma relocation
plan, only telling reporters that Gates and Navy Adm. Michael Mullen, chairman
of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, who will also visit Japan later this week,
will likely touch on those topics.
==Kyodo