Japan Press Weekly

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2009 October 28 - November 2 [POLITICS]

Cabinet members divided over U.S. Futenma base relocation

The defense minister and the foreign minister are basically in favor of relocating the Futenma base within Okinawa Prefecture but have different plans in mind.

On October 27, Defense Minister Kitazawa Toshimi at a press conference said that the plan to move the Futenma base to the coastal area off Camp Schwab in Nago, as agreed on previously by the two governments, does not conflict with what the ruling Democratic Party promised in its election “manifesto.”

By stating this, the defense minister made clear that the current Japan-U.S. plan to relocate the air station to the coastal areas in U.S. Camp Schwab is acceptable.

Kitazawa said, "It is incorrect to say that the Futenma relocation to Nago contradicts our election pledge to move the base overseas or out of Okinawa Prefecture."

The 2006 bilateral agreement (Roadmap) on the realignment of the U.S. Forces in Japan refers to the transfer of a part of the U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa to Guam and the Futenma Air Station's aerial refueling aircraft to the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

Kitazawa’s logic is that the “Roadmap”, which requires a part of the U.S. forces in Okinawa to be moved out of the prefecture, does not conflict with the DPJ's pledge to relocate the base overseas or outside Okinawa Prefecture.

Kitazawa’s view contradicts the DPJ election manifesto, which states that the DPJ will review the current relocation plan so that the base will be moved overseas or to another location in Japan.

Meanwhile, Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya told reporters on the same day that his statement of October 23 that the Futenma base could be integrated into the U.S. Kadena Air Base in Okinawa could be “feasible.”

Asked by reporters to comment on the report that U.S. officials have rejected Okada’s idea, the foreign minister said that he cannot understand the reasons behind the rejection. Whether there is a possibility that his proposal of “integration into Kadena” will be accepted by the U.S. or not should be thoroughly examined, he added.

Commenting on Kitazawa’s statement that the current relocation plan accords with the DPJ’s pledge, Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio later in the day stated that he does not necessarily agree with Kitazawa.

Hatoyama repeated his opinion that more time is needed to consider various options before arriving at a conclusion.
- Akahata, October 28, 2009