Japan FM: US base should stay on Okinawa

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Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, right, and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada compare the size of their hands before their meeting at the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo on Frida


Japan FM: US base should stay on Okinawa
By MALCOLM FOSTER
Associated Press Writer

TOKYO (AP) -- Japan's new government appeared to bow to intensifying pressure from visiting top U.S. military officials, saying Friday it supports keeping a major U.S. Marine airfield on the southern island of Okinawa.

The move narrows - but doesn't close - a rift between the two alliance partners ahead of President Barack Obama's visit in three weeks. The new Tokyo administration, elected in a landslide in August, is eager to assert a more independent stance with Washington - but doesn't want to unduly strain ties with its chief ally and key trading partner.

The government of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has suggested it would like to make changes to a 2006 agreement that would realign the 47,000 U.S. troops in Japan, including moving 8,000 Marines to the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam.

A major sticking point has been the future of Futenma airfield, which under the pact would be relocated to a less crowded part of Okinawa. However, Hatoyama has suggested he would like the airfield moved off the island entirely.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, visiting Tokyo earlier this week, insisted the Futenma - a busy Marine Corps air base - must be relocated on the island, calling any other options "politically untenable and operationally unworkable."


Rest of Empire article at: http://ap.stripes.com/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_US_MILITARY?SITE=DCSAS&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT