Text Fwd: US wants to allocate budget to reallocate troops (contingent on Jp ¥); nothing will happen in Okinawa for a while, if at all

* Text sent by Jean Downy on May 26, 2010

According to this WSJ report, here's the reason for the hurry -- Contractors want their money for the Guam (and Tinian? Hawai'i? and Diego Garcia?) build-up. The US is dependent on Japanese money to do this.

Mr. Hatoyama's government hopes to draw up concrete plans for the new U.S. facility over the next several weeks, in part to allow Washington to allocate a budget for a broader plan to reallocate troops within East Asia. On Monday, Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa left for a trip to Washington, where he will meet U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss the details of the Okinawa plan.

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Hatoyama Feels Heat After Shift Over Base

Wall Street Journal

By YUKA HAYASHI

TOKYO—Following his about-face on the contentious issue of a new U.S. military base in Okinawa, Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama now must persuade angry local officials to allow its construction and mollify members of his own party.

The embattled Japanese prime minister came under renewed criticism on Monday that he had fueled false hopes among the people in Okinawa only to go back to an agreement signed by the previous government with the U.S. During his trip to the southern island on Sunday, his second this month, Mr. Hatoyama formally announced he had given up his months long effort to find an alternative location for the base and apologized to angry residents.


Local officials, unhappy with the island's heavy burden of hosting U.S. troops, remain opposed and have shown little indication that they would give approval needed for the plan to move forward. Meanwhile, in Tokyo, the prime minister was criticized by lawmakers from both within and outside his center-left government.

Working against Mr. Hatoyama's effort for an early solution of the plan is a gubernatorial election in Okinawa in November. "Don't expect any major political decision coming from Okinawa before the election," said Masaaki Gabe, professor of international affairs at the University of the Ryukyus in Okinawa.

Mr. Gabe said anyone running in the election will oppose the new base, given the local opposition, though the winner could compromise after gaining a major concession from Tokyo. In order to convince the Okinawans, he said, the government would have to come up with significant and creative steps to spur growth in Okinawa, not just traditional pork-barrel spending offered in the past as a price for hosting the bases.

The negative reaction further clouds the outlook for Mr. Hatoyama's 8-month-old government ahead of national elections in July.

Popular support for Mr. Hatoyama has fallen to new lows of below 25% in recent weeks due to what many voters viewed as a lack of leadership and mishandling of key policies, particularly the Okinawa base issue. (STILL LDP has lower ratings -- surprised they're not in the negative numbers)

Mr. Hatoyama said Monday his plan for Okinawa will be different from the existing plan, adding it will do everything possible to protect the safety and the environment.

"I humbly accept all the criticism," an exhausted-looking prime minister said. "But I have made a decision to put the highest priority in building a trusting relationship with the U.S., considering the current situation on the Korean Peninsula and in Asia overall."

The comment followed a visit Friday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Tokyo, where the two countries agreed to cooperate in condemning North Korea for its alleged torpedo attack on a South Korean warship two months ago.

Mr. Hatoyama's government hopes to draw up concrete plans for the new U.S. facility over the next several weeks, in part to allow Washington to allocate a budget for a broader plan to reallocate troops within East Asia. On Monday, Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa left for a trip to Washington, where he will meet U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates to discuss the details of the Okinawa plan.

But the mounting opposition in Okinawa makes it difficult for the two governments to push the plan forward.

The Japanese authorities are notoriously reluctant to force public projects on communities where there is local opposition. U.S. officials have also said local support is essential for any plan.

"The prime minister said again and again the base would be built outside of Okinawa," Susumu Inamine, mayor of Nago City in northern Okinawa, said on Monday. "We want him to make that happen." While the mayor doesn't have the authority to stop the new facility, his predecessor's support was cited by Japan's previous government as a reason for choosing the location.

Mr. Hatoyama confirmed Sunday a new facility will be built adjacent to an existing Marine Corps base called Camp Schwab in Nago, as stipulated in a 2006 bilateral agreement. Mr. Inamine was elected governor in January on the platform of opposing the new base.

Okinawa Gov. Hirokazu Nakaima called the prime minister's decision "extremely regrettable" and left his meeting Sunday with Mr. Hatoyama's without shaking the prime minister's hand. The existing bilateral plan calls for reclaiming the land off the coast of Nago, known as the only habitat in Japan of the dugong, a marine animal related to the manatee. The construction can't be started without the governor's approval.

In Tokyo, the leader of a small party in the ruling coalition with Mr. Hatoyama's party, said the latest plan was "absolutely unacceptable," calling it a "stupid policy." Mizuho Fukushima has hinted in the past her Social Democratic Party might drop out of the coalition if the government decides to build a new base in Okinawa. Ms. Fukushima pointed out Mr. Hatoyama said just a few weeks ago reclaiming the land in the beautiful waters of Nago amounted to a "blasphemy against the nature."

Meanwhile, leaders of the opposition Liberal Democratic Party of Japan said they would push for the resignation of Mr. Hatoyama and his cabinet. "The prime minister is making all kinds of excuses to get away from this problem," said Tadamori Oshima, the LDP's secretary-general. "He is simply not qualified to solve this problem." (THE LDP of course CAUSED IT)

Write to Yuka Hayashi at yuka.hayashi@wsj.com