ID :
86809
Fri, 10/30/2009 - 09:34
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/86809
The shortlink copeid
Japan to comprehensively review alliance with U.S.: Hatoyama+
TOKYO, Oct. 29 Kyodo - Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama reiterated Thursday his government will ''comprehensively review'' the Japan-U.S. alliance but added it will continue to deepen the bilateral ties in a ''multilayered'' way.
''As I have repeatedly said, the Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of
Japan's foreign policy,'' Hatoyama said during a House of Councillors plenary
session.
But he said his government, which took power in mid-September, will
comprehensively review the entire status of the alliance on the occasion of the
50th anniversary of the revision of the bilateral security treaty next year.
''Through the review and in a mid- to long-term perspective, we will deepen the
ties in a multilayered way,'' the leader of the ruling Democratic Party of
Japan said.
He made the comments after Yoshimasa Hayashi, an opposition Liberal Democratic
Party lawmaker, accused the government of having sent ''wrong messages'' to the
United States, Japan's closest ally, and urged him to establish a solid policy
on the U.S. base issue and the shape of the U.S. troops in Japan before U.S.
President Barack Obama visits the country on Nov. 12-13.
Hatoyama told reporters later in the day that what he meant by ''reviewing the
alliance'' was to look into various pending issues between the two countries,
as his DPJ, which had been in opposition until very recently, has yet to grasp
all the information concerned.
Hatoyama said his government is seriously examining the 2006 Japan-U.S. deal to
relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station from a densely populated
area in Okinawa Prefecture and that he is the one who will make the final
decision on the matter amid what appears to be differing opinions among some of
his Cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.
Speaking to the plenary session, Okada said a plan he recently floated to move
the facility to the nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base is an idea he brought up ''as
foreign minister,'' but not necessarily endorsed by the Cabinet.
He last week proposed transferring the Futemma base in the city of Ginowan to
the Kadena base, which already has a runway, to lighten the burden on people in
the city, instead of an existing plan agreed on in 2006 to build a new base in
Nago, another city in Okinawa.
''We are examining the idea and want to come up with a conclusion as quickly as
possible,'' Okada said.
But the plan has sparked a backlash from people in the town of Kadena and
raised eyebrows among lawmakers of the DPJ's coalition partners, such as Mizuho
Fukushima, leader of the pacifist Social Democratic Party, who says the plan
will do little to ease the burden on local residents.
The previous LDP-led government agreed with the United States in 2006 to
relocate the facility to Nago as part of a broad realignment of U.S. forces in
Japan.
The new government has promised to review the deal to reduce the burden on
Okinawa, which hosts the majority of U.S. forces in Japan, and suggested the
facility should be moved off Okinawa.
After U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week pressed Japan to stick to
the 2006 deal, however, the government has watered down its stance, and Okada
and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa have made comments that differ from each
other, causing confusion both at home and in Washington.
At the House of Representatives' plenary session in the afternoon, Japanese
Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii said the Hatoyama government has caved in to
U.S. pressure too quickly.
''How can you call it an 'equal Japan-U.S. relationship'? It is no different''
from the relations in which Japan had been subservient to the United States
during the era of the LDP-New Komeito coalition, he said, referring to the
DPJ's election manifesto which notes the party will aim for ''close and equal''
relations with the United States.
In parliament, Hatoyama also again pledged to support a 1995 statement by then
Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama stating that Japan inflicted tremendous damage
and suffering on Asian and other countries ''through its colonial rule and
aggression.''
On the second day of Diet interpellations, he also said he will minimize
additional debt issuance despite a continuing decline in tax revenues.
Hatoyama was responding to Hayashi, a former minister in charge of economic and
fiscal policy, who challenged him over his recent remarks that could be taken
as contradicting an earlier pledge to implement a series of economic steps
without issuing fresh bonds.
''You have said you can secure enough funds'' for the DPJ's key campaign
pledges such as monthly allowances for families with children without fresh
bond issuance, by cutting wasteful spending of taxpayers' money, Hayashi said.
On a political fund scandal in which Hatoyama is embroiled, Hayashi said he
should explain the case with his own words in parliament.
But Hatoyama said he thinks it is important to realize what he has pledged to
voters, who chose his DPJ over the LDP in the August lower house election.
His political funds management body has been found to have falsely reported
donations from people who were already deceased.
Regarding the contentious government plan to abort the decades-old Yamba Dam
project in Gunma Prefecture, Hatoyama said he has no intention of rescinding
it, as it is one of the DPJ's campaign pledges.
==Kyodo
''As I have repeatedly said, the Japan-U.S. alliance is the cornerstone of
Japan's foreign policy,'' Hatoyama said during a House of Councillors plenary
session.
But he said his government, which took power in mid-September, will
comprehensively review the entire status of the alliance on the occasion of the
50th anniversary of the revision of the bilateral security treaty next year.
''Through the review and in a mid- to long-term perspective, we will deepen the
ties in a multilayered way,'' the leader of the ruling Democratic Party of
Japan said.
He made the comments after Yoshimasa Hayashi, an opposition Liberal Democratic
Party lawmaker, accused the government of having sent ''wrong messages'' to the
United States, Japan's closest ally, and urged him to establish a solid policy
on the U.S. base issue and the shape of the U.S. troops in Japan before U.S.
President Barack Obama visits the country on Nov. 12-13.
Hatoyama told reporters later in the day that what he meant by ''reviewing the
alliance'' was to look into various pending issues between the two countries,
as his DPJ, which had been in opposition until very recently, has yet to grasp
all the information concerned.
Hatoyama said his government is seriously examining the 2006 Japan-U.S. deal to
relocate the U.S. Marine Corps' Futemma Air Station from a densely populated
area in Okinawa Prefecture and that he is the one who will make the final
decision on the matter amid what appears to be differing opinions among some of
his Cabinet members, including Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.
Speaking to the plenary session, Okada said a plan he recently floated to move
the facility to the nearby U.S. Kadena Air Base is an idea he brought up ''as
foreign minister,'' but not necessarily endorsed by the Cabinet.
He last week proposed transferring the Futemma base in the city of Ginowan to
the Kadena base, which already has a runway, to lighten the burden on people in
the city, instead of an existing plan agreed on in 2006 to build a new base in
Nago, another city in Okinawa.
''We are examining the idea and want to come up with a conclusion as quickly as
possible,'' Okada said.
But the plan has sparked a backlash from people in the town of Kadena and
raised eyebrows among lawmakers of the DPJ's coalition partners, such as Mizuho
Fukushima, leader of the pacifist Social Democratic Party, who says the plan
will do little to ease the burden on local residents.
The previous LDP-led government agreed with the United States in 2006 to
relocate the facility to Nago as part of a broad realignment of U.S. forces in
Japan.
The new government has promised to review the deal to reduce the burden on
Okinawa, which hosts the majority of U.S. forces in Japan, and suggested the
facility should be moved off Okinawa.
After U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates last week pressed Japan to stick to
the 2006 deal, however, the government has watered down its stance, and Okada
and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa have made comments that differ from each
other, causing confusion both at home and in Washington.
At the House of Representatives' plenary session in the afternoon, Japanese
Communist Party leader Kazuo Shii said the Hatoyama government has caved in to
U.S. pressure too quickly.
''How can you call it an 'equal Japan-U.S. relationship'? It is no different''
from the relations in which Japan had been subservient to the United States
during the era of the LDP-New Komeito coalition, he said, referring to the
DPJ's election manifesto which notes the party will aim for ''close and equal''
relations with the United States.
In parliament, Hatoyama also again pledged to support a 1995 statement by then
Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama stating that Japan inflicted tremendous damage
and suffering on Asian and other countries ''through its colonial rule and
aggression.''
On the second day of Diet interpellations, he also said he will minimize
additional debt issuance despite a continuing decline in tax revenues.
Hatoyama was responding to Hayashi, a former minister in charge of economic and
fiscal policy, who challenged him over his recent remarks that could be taken
as contradicting an earlier pledge to implement a series of economic steps
without issuing fresh bonds.
''You have said you can secure enough funds'' for the DPJ's key campaign
pledges such as monthly allowances for families with children without fresh
bond issuance, by cutting wasteful spending of taxpayers' money, Hayashi said.
On a political fund scandal in which Hatoyama is embroiled, Hayashi said he
should explain the case with his own words in parliament.
But Hatoyama said he thinks it is important to realize what he has pledged to
voters, who chose his DPJ over the LDP in the August lower house election.
His political funds management body has been found to have falsely reported
donations from people who were already deceased.
Regarding the contentious government plan to abort the decades-old Yamba Dam
project in Gunma Prefecture, Hatoyama said he has no intention of rescinding
it, as it is one of the DPJ's campaign pledges.
==Kyodo
