PM firm in airbase row
Source: Agencies |
April 25, 2010, Sunday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
JAPAN'S prime minister yesterday repeated his objection to a 2006 plan to relocate a United States airbase on Okinawa after a newspaper said Tokyo had told Washington it would broadly accept the deal.
The Washington Post said that Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told US Ambassador John Roos on Friday that Tokyo was moving toward accepting major parts of the 2006 deal to move the US Marines' Futenma airbase from the center of the city to a less populated part of Okinawa.
"The report is not true. We cannot accept the existing plan," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters.
Hatoyama, whose support rates have been sinking ahead of a key mid-year election, has said he would stake his job on settling the feud by a self-imposed end of May deadline. In the absence of a deal, speculation has simmered he might even have to step down if he fails.
Okada said later he had met Roos "recently" but also denied the Washington Post report. Kyodo news agency said Hatoyama sidestepped the question of whether Tokyo had proposed revising the 2006 deal.
The Washington Post said that Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada told US Ambassador John Roos on Friday that Tokyo was moving toward accepting major parts of the 2006 deal to move the US Marines' Futenma airbase from the center of the city to a less populated part of Okinawa.
"The report is not true. We cannot accept the existing plan," Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama told reporters.
Hatoyama, whose support rates have been sinking ahead of a key mid-year election, has said he would stake his job on settling the feud by a self-imposed end of May deadline. In the absence of a deal, speculation has simmered he might even have to step down if he fails.
Okada said later he had met Roos "recently" but also denied the Washington Post report. Kyodo news agency said Hatoyama sidestepped the question of whether Tokyo had proposed revising the 2006 deal.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
