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US confident of ending base row with Japan

Posted on: Mon May 10, 2010

BANGKOK: A top US envoy voiced optimism on Sunday that Washington and Tokyo would be able to resolve a row over the relocation of a controversial US base that has strained ties between the two allies. The comments by US assistant secretary Kurt Campbell come as Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is expected to draw up a draft plan for dealing with the issue on Monday, ahead of talks between Japan and the United States later in the week.    

The Japanese government has been hunting for months for a new home for the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, which is currently located on the southern island of Okinawa and faces strong opposition from residents.    

But Hatoyama has backtracked on an election pledge to move the base off the island and last week conceded that most of the US operations would have to be moved within Okinawa, as agreed by a previous conservative government in 2006.    

 I remain confident that we will be able to arrive at an outcome that meets the operational needs of the United States but is also politically responsible, said Campbell, who is assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs. Japan remains our closest ally in Asia, he said at a press conference in Bangkok. It s absolutely essential that we have a strong and stable relationship between Tokyo and Washington as we have to confront uncertainty in the Asia-Pacific region.     

After victory in World War II the United States set up scores of bases in Japan and under a post-war security pact is committed to defending the country, which has renounced offensive military action.    

But many of the bases have triggered strong opposition from local residents, who complain of aircraft noise, pollution and crime, especially on Okinawa, which hosts more than half of the 47,000 US troops.    

Hatoyama and his allies have long pledged to ease the burden on Okinawa, but their plans to relocate the Futenma base elsewhere have failed to produce viable alternatives while badly straining ties with Washington. The prime minister, struggling to meet a self-imposed deadline of the end of this month, is expected to draw up an official draft plan on Monday before Japanese officials hold talks in the United States this week.    

Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said on Saturday that the government was trying to map out a plan which would make Okinawa people feel their burden reduced , probably involving assigning more places on the main islands as candidates to host US military facilities, the Yomiuri daily reported.

Courtesy : The News