Okinawa: Obama meets new Japan PM, seeks progress on US Marine base relocation

UNITED NATIONS – President Barack Obama vowed continued U.S. help for key ally Japan to rebuild after its devastating earthquake and tsunami but also pushed for progress on a long-delayed plan to relocate American forces in the country.

Obama held his first meeting Wednesday with Yoshihiko Noda, Japan’s newest prime minister. Noda has held office for less than a month and faces domestic challenges beyond the natural disasters, including a stagnant economy and a crushing national debt. The two leaders met on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly.

Both sides hailed the U.S.-Japanese alliance, which Noda described as the pillar of Japan’s foreign policy. The two leaders said the countries must focus on economic growth.

But they also broached what has been a sticking point in relations – how to proceed with plans agreed by the two governments in 2006 to relocate a U.S. Marine air station on the southern island of Okinawa.

Japan’s government has failed to win the assent needed from residents there, although the plans aim to reduce the U.S. military footprint on the island that hosts more than half of the 47,000 American troops in Japan.

“Both sides understand we are approaching a period where you need to see results,” U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asia and the Pacific, Kurt Campbell, told a news conference after the 45-minute meeting. “That was made very clear by the president.”

“Japan will do its best to solve the issue,” said Japanese spokesman Yutaka Yokoi, noting this included getting the understanding of Okinawans.

There was no sign any headway has been made in the re-basing plans, which would involve building a new airfield in Okinawa and shifting 8,000 Marines would to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam. The two sides in June pushed back the 2014 deadline for its completion.

Some influential U.S. lawmakers have criticized the plans as unworkable and too costly. Japan, which faces a massive post-quake reconstruction bill, is to foot much of the multibillion dollar cost of the base relocation.

By Associated Press, September 22, 2011
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia-pacific/obama-hails-us-alliance-with-japan-promises-to-help-country-rebuild-after-earthquake-tsunami/2011/09/21/gIQAQd4LlK_story.html

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Okinawa: Noda Resolved to Win Okinawa’s Support for U.S. Base Plan

New York, Sept. 23 (Jiji Press)—Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed his resolve Friday to obtain the understanding of local people about the planned relocation of a key U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture, southernmost Japan.

“Japan and the United States will cooperate in proceeding with the relocation in accordance with a bilateral agreement reached last year,” Noda said at a press conference held after giving a speech at the U.N. General Assembly.

“We will give in-depth explanations (about the relocation plan) to the people of Okinawa and will hopefully win their understanding,” Noda said, adding that he thinks Okinawa, too, does not want the Futenma base to stay where it is.

In May last year, Japan and the United States agreed to move the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma air station in Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another Okinawa city, but little progress has been made in implementing the agreement due to local opposition.

Noda also said, “While maintaining the deterrence (secured by the U.S. military presence), we will lessen the burden of Okinawa as much as possible.”

Jiji Press, Sept. 23, 2011
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2011092400190

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Okinawa: Government to issue grants to Okinawa to help settle Futenma issue

The government is set to provide unrestricted grants to Okinawa Prefecture to help its economy in an apparent bid to resolve the thorny issue of relocating the U.S. Futenma air station.

The program, the first of its kind, was drawn up in response to the prefectural government’s call for 300 billion yen ($3.93 billion) in funds it can use entirely according to its own plans.

Although the government’s new guidelines for steps to help the prefecture mentioned the establishment of grants allowing more freedom for Okinawa on how to use the money, it did not clarify the size of the funds nor provide details about the program.

If the government pushes to link the provision of grants with the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan to the Henoko district of the city of Nago in the prefecture, it will likely draw ire from local officials.

The administration of Naoto Kan, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda’s predecessor, earmarked 230 billion yen for projects related to Okinawa Prefecture in the fiscal 2011 budget.

Of the sum, 32.1 billion yen came in the form of grants, like the rest of the prefectures.

But these funds had to be used for specific projects as a requirement.

Okinawa was urging the government to raise the funds to 300 billion yen and to allow it to spend the money in accordance with its plans.

With the offer of the new program, Noda apparently intends to make progress in the stalled Futenma issue, a source of discord between Japan and the United States.

The new guidelines also stated that from fiscal 2012, the government will include a clause that takes into account the leadership of the prefectural government and the central government’s responsibility in promoting Okinawa’s economic development.

Asahi Shimbun , September 23, 2011

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Okinawa: Gemba, Clinton reaffirm Futenma base relocation plan

NEW YORK (Kyodo) — Japanese Foreign Minister Koichiro Gemba and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton agreed Monday to implement the relocation of a U.S. Marine base within Okinawa Prefecture, based on a bilateral accord.

Gemba told reporters that in the talks in New York, he asked Clinton to make further efforts to ease the burdens on the people of Okinawa, telling her that the prospects for the relocation plan are tough.

Referring to calls for reviewing the current relocation plan, Clinton told Gemba that she hopes to move the issue forward quickly by implementing the agreement formulated in the bilateral security talks earlier this summer, a U.S. official told reporters.

Japan and the United States plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station from Ginowan to the less densely populated coastal area of Nago in the island prefecture, but the plan has been deadlocked due to strong opposition from local leaders and residents.

Gemba and Clinton, in their first one-on-one meeting, also agreed to deepen the bilateral security alliance as the cornerstone of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region.

Kyodo, September 20, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/09/20/20110920p2g00m0dm005000c.html

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 Okinawa gov. reiterates demand to move U.S. base out of prefecture

WASHINGTON (Kyodo) — Visiting Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima on Monday reiterated his opposition to the existing plan to relocate the U.S. Marine Corps’ Futenma Air Station within his prefecture.

In a speech in Washington, Nakaima said that moving Futenma out of the prefecture is the best way to solve problems reasonably and promptly.

Nakaima repeated his call for revamping the current plan to move the base from the densely populated Ginowan to the coastal area of Henoko in Nago. He said relocation out of the prefecture was necessary for reasons including opposition by the Nago mayor and many members of the city assembly, as well as uncertainty over the Marine Corps’ functions in Okinawa.

Should the base be moved to Henoko forcibly, it would trigger fierce antibase movements across the prefecture, possibly having a negative impact on the Japan-U.S. security alliance, he said.

Saying that the Futenma base is dangerous and flawed, Nakaima said the fundamental point of relocating the base is to eliminate danger. It would be virtually impossible to continue operating the base as it is now, he said.

Regarding a Japan-U.S. deal on the U.S. military realignment package linking the relocation of the Futenma base with the return to Japan of military facilities located south of the U.S. Kadena Air Force Base, Nakaima said it would be natural for the United States to return such facilities as they would be no longer necessary for the Marine Corps.

The Japan-U.S. accord stipulates the return of most of the military-occupied land areas south of the Kadena base if the Futenma is relocated as agreed. Nakaima has been calling for an early return of such land.

Kyodo, September 20, 2011
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/national/archive/news/2011/09/20/20110920p2g00m0dm004000c.html

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Okinawa’s Nakaima Opposes Futenma Relocation by “Bayonets and Bulldozers”

Washington, Sept. 20 (Jiji Press)—Hirokazu Nakaima, visiting governor of Japan’s Okinawa Prefecture, blamed both the Japanese and U.S. governments on Monday for trying to push forward a plan to relocate a key U.S. base within Okinawa despite local people’s strong opposition.

The United States built the Marine Corps’ Futenma air station by bayonets and bulldozers, and if Japan’s central government goes ahead with the base’s relocation in line with its agreement with the U.S. government, it should mean that the relocation is to be done by bayonets and bulldozers, Nakaima said at a press conference in Washington.

In May last year, Tokyo and Washington agreed to move the Futenma base from a heavily populated residential area in Ginowan to the Henoko coastal district in Nago, another Okinawa city.

Sentiments of the people in Okinawa toward the state government will deteriorate if the relocation plan is carried out as agreed, because locals and all municipal heads in the prefecture including Nakaima are protesting the agreement, he said.

While acknowledging the importance of the Japan-U.S. military alliance, Nakaima called for correction of the situation in which an excessive number of U.S. bases are located in the small southern prefecture.

Jiji Press, September 20, 2011
http://jen.jiji.com/jc/eng?g=eco&k=2011092100449

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