Aug. deadline for Futenma 'abandoned' / Indecision fed by pressure from Okinawa

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The August deadline for a final decision on the location and construction method of a replacement facility for the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Okinawa Prefecture has been abandoned by the Japanese and U.S. governments, several sources close to the issue said.

Two factors are said to be behind the move: failure to overcome differences in bilateral negotiations up until last Friday; and strong resistance in Okinawa Prefecture to the replacement facility being located within the prefecture, the sources said.

The governments have begun work on alternative arrangements, effectively giving up on the deadline stipulated in a bilateral agreement made in May, the sources said.

The Japanese side has not focused on any specific course of action, telling the United States it would submit several plans regarding the replacement facility at the end of August, the sources said.

Consultations between defense and diplomatic experts from both sides were held on June 21 in Tokyo and July 15 and 16 in Washington.

According to the sources, the Japanese officials said in Washington that Japan's desire to merely submit several proposals was due to domestic concerns, particularly the uncertain political climate in Okinawa Prefecture.

Deciding on a definite plan before the Okinawa gubernatorial election on Nov. 28 would be very difficult, in the opinion of the the Japanese government.

"We believe the U.S. side understood Japan's circumstances, and accepted our proposal to list several plans," a government source said.

The U.S. side had pushed for Japan to come up with a single plan by the end of August, as promised in the bilateral agreement.

The agreement stipulates "that a study by experts regarding the replacement facility's location, configuration and construction method would be completed...no later than the end of August, and that the verification and validation would be completed by the time of the next SCC [bilateral Security Consultative Committee meeting]."

According to the sources, some of the U.S. officials involved regarded Japan's hesitance as inevitable. Having been involved in the Futenma issue for years, the U.S. officials believe relocation work will not progress without the consent of Okinawa Prefecture and concerned localities, the sources explained.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Naoto Kan was briefed at the Prime Minister's Office by Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary Kinya Takino, who is in charge of the Futenma issue, about the consultations and other developments.

The Japanese government plans to put forward four options for a replacement facility in the Henoko district of Nago, Okinawa Prefecture, at the end of August, the sources said.

They are:

-- A facility with two runways, to be constructed in a V-shape on a coastal site.

-- A facility with two runways, to be constructed in a V-shape on an offshore site.

-- A facility with one runway on a coastal site.

-- A facility with one runway on an off-shore site, several hundred meters from the coast.

The U.S. side is reportedly concerned that the construction plan may not be decided before a planned visit by U.S. President Barack Obama to Japan in mid-November--just before the Okinawa gubernatorial election.

A U.S. State Department source said the U.S. side will monitor Kan's efforts to build consensus within Okinawa Prefecture.

The U.S. government had hoped the Kan administration would pursue a realistic stance and enable smooth execution of a plan as per the terms of the agreement.

With that now being unlikely, Japan-U.S. relations--which came under considerable strain during the term of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama--will enter a new phase of tension under the Kan administration, the sources said.

Further consultations between defense and diplomatic officials from both nations will be held in Tokyo on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Obama is scheduled to attend a leaders' summit meeting of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum on Nov. 13 and 14 in Yokohama.