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Japan PM seeks to quell Okinawa anger over US base
Source: Agencies |
June 23, 2010, Wednesday
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JAPANESE Prime Minister Naoto Kan apologised to the residents of Okinawa today for the concentration of US military bases on the island, in an effort to soothe local anger that contributed to his predecessor's fall.
Kan took over earlier this month from Yukio Hatoyama, who quit after sparking public outrage for breaking a promise to move a US airbase off the southern island, reluctant host to about half the 49,000 US military personnel in Japan.
The dispute over where to relocate the US Marines' Futenma airbase has distracted Washington and Tokyo as the close allies try to cope with an unpredictable North Korea and a rising China.
It has also hurt the popularity of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with voters ahead of a July 11 upper house election, which it needs to win for smooth policymaking, including efforts to rein in huge public debt.
"I want to express my gratitude for the fact that this burden contributes to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region," Kan said at ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa at the end of World War Two, in which about 150,000 Okinawan men, women and children were killed.
"I promise to seriously try all the more to reduce Okinawa's burden related to the US bases and eliminate the associated dangers."
Kan, visiting Okinawa for the first time as prime minister, spoke at a memorial park where rows of black stones are engraved with names of those who died in the 82-day battle -- civilians and soldiers on both sides.
Kan has made fiscal reform a top priority ahead of the election, but opposition parties have used the base dispute to blast the DPJ's diplomatic policies since the party took power for the first time last year.
WRANGLING
After months of wrangling, Japan and the United States reached an agreement shortly before Hatoyama quit for the two sides to go ahead with a 2006 deal to shift the Futenma airbase to a less crowded part of Okinawa.
Kan has said he will stick to the agreement, but keeping the base on the island, strategically located close to Taiwan and the Korean peninsula, faces strong resistance from residents who complain of noise, pollution and crime associated with bases.
"I hope that in this milestone year, Okinawa's excess base burden will be alleviated in a way that the people of Okinawa can see with their own eyes," Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima said at the ceremony.
Nakaima later told Kan in a meeting that it would be difficult to keep the airbase on Okinawa, Kyodo news agency reported.
Kan, who has said US-Japan ties are the core of Tokyo's diplomacy, is expected to touch on the issue when he meets President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a summit of G8 and G20 leaders this weekend in Canada.
Hatoyama had raised the hopes of Okinawa residents before the DPJ's landslide election win last year that Futenma could be moved off the island, but he failed to find a replacement site elsewhere in Japan or outside the country.
Washington and Tokyo have agreed to work out by the end of August a detailed plan, including a relocation site, but Japan's defence minister has already expressed doubts over how smoothly the deal can be implemented.
An election for the governor of Okinawa is due in November and the result could also affect the airbase deal, coming near the time when Obama is expected to visit Japan for an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit.
Kan took over earlier this month from Yukio Hatoyama, who quit after sparking public outrage for breaking a promise to move a US airbase off the southern island, reluctant host to about half the 49,000 US military personnel in Japan.
The dispute over where to relocate the US Marines' Futenma airbase has distracted Washington and Tokyo as the close allies try to cope with an unpredictable North Korea and a rising China.
It has also hurt the popularity of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) with voters ahead of a July 11 upper house election, which it needs to win for smooth policymaking, including efforts to rein in huge public debt.
"I want to express my gratitude for the fact that this burden contributes to the peace and security of the Asia-Pacific region," Kan said at ceremony to mark the 65th anniversary of the Battle of Okinawa at the end of World War Two, in which about 150,000 Okinawan men, women and children were killed.
"I promise to seriously try all the more to reduce Okinawa's burden related to the US bases and eliminate the associated dangers."
Kan, visiting Okinawa for the first time as prime minister, spoke at a memorial park where rows of black stones are engraved with names of those who died in the 82-day battle -- civilians and soldiers on both sides.
Kan has made fiscal reform a top priority ahead of the election, but opposition parties have used the base dispute to blast the DPJ's diplomatic policies since the party took power for the first time last year.
WRANGLING
After months of wrangling, Japan and the United States reached an agreement shortly before Hatoyama quit for the two sides to go ahead with a 2006 deal to shift the Futenma airbase to a less crowded part of Okinawa.
Kan has said he will stick to the agreement, but keeping the base on the island, strategically located close to Taiwan and the Korean peninsula, faces strong resistance from residents who complain of noise, pollution and crime associated with bases.
"I hope that in this milestone year, Okinawa's excess base burden will be alleviated in a way that the people of Okinawa can see with their own eyes," Okinawa governor Hirokazu Nakaima said at the ceremony.
Nakaima later told Kan in a meeting that it would be difficult to keep the airbase on Okinawa, Kyodo news agency reported.
Kan, who has said US-Japan ties are the core of Tokyo's diplomacy, is expected to touch on the issue when he meets President Barack Obama on the sidelines of a summit of G8 and G20 leaders this weekend in Canada.
Hatoyama had raised the hopes of Okinawa residents before the DPJ's landslide election win last year that Futenma could be moved off the island, but he failed to find a replacement site elsewhere in Japan or outside the country.
Washington and Tokyo have agreed to work out by the end of August a detailed plan, including a relocation site, but Japan's defence minister has already expressed doubts over how smoothly the deal can be implemented.
An election for the governor of Okinawa is due in November and the result could also affect the airbase deal, coming near the time when Obama is expected to visit Japan for an Asia-Pacific leaders' summit.
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