Japan PM, hoping to break impasse, gathers Cabinet to discuss US base move

By Eric Talmadge, AP
Monday, May 10, 2010

Japan PM meets Cabinet to discuss US Marine base

TOKYO — Japan’s prime minister has approved a draft proposal on the relocation of a major U.S. Marine base, paving the way for Japanese and U.S. officials to formally negotiate the plan later this week, reports said Monday.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, whose public approval levels are plunging, met with his top advisers to discuss the draft ahead of working-level talks on the relocation that are scheduled to be held Wednesday in Washington.

Hatoyama wants to break an impasse on the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, on the southern island of Okinawa, that has opened a rift between Tokyo and Washington and generated intense opposition from Okinawa residents.

When he took office last September, Hatoyama suggested he wanted to see the functions of the base, which is located in a crowded city, moved off of Okinawa or outside of Japan altogether.

Hatoyama recently backed away from his earlier stance and had instead indicated he would support an alternate plan to move base operations to a facility farther north.

The issue is becoming heavy baggage for Hatoyama, whose party faces parliamentary elections in July.

Reports say the new plan would involve building an airstrip near the existing base farther north on Okinawa. The airstrip would be over the coast on raised pilings, which would cut down on its environmental impact.

The new plan would also involve building only one new airstrip, rather than two as had been agreed upon earlier by Washington and Hatoyama’s predecessor. It also would spread out training by the Marines and Air Force to other areas around Japan.

Kyodo News reported that Hatoyama also would try to visit Okinawa soon to further seek local approval. He has vowed to settle the issue by the end of this month, but Kyodo said after the meeting Monday that he had largely given up hope of winning over the support of Okinawans for the plan by that time.

Public support for Japan’s prime minister hit a new low in a survey released Monday, with more than half of respondents calling for his resignation if the relocation issue isn’t settled this month.

The national poll by the Yomiuri daily, Japan’s top-selling newspaper, found the approval rate for Hatoyama’s Cabinet plummeted to 24 percent in May, down 9 points from the previous month. The Yomiuri survey showed the disapproval rate for Hatoyama’s Cabinet rose to 67 percent in May from 56 percent in April, with 51 percent of respondents saying the prime minister lacked leadership.

The dispute over moving the Futenma airfield — which Okinawans say causes excessive noise and is dangerously close to residential areas — has shaken U.S.-Japan ties since Hatoyama froze a 2006 agreement with Washington.

Under that agreement, about 8,000 Marines would be moved from Okinawa to the island of Guam, a move which was welcomed by many Okinawans, who have long complained that they bear too much of the burden of the U.S. troop presence in Japan. About half of the 50,000 U.S. troops in Japan are based on Okinawa.

But the movement of the Marines is contingent on finding a replacement for the Futenma base, and none of the proposals so far floated by Tokyo have gained support from the local Okinawan communities that would have to host them.

About 2,000 Marines are based at Futenma, which is largely an air-support facility for the infantry units deployed on other parts of Okinawa. U.S. military officials say the two components need to be close to each other to function properly in times of emergency.

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