Japanese PM: moving U.S. base fully out of island difficult
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Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama met with Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima in Okinawa on Tuesday to explain the difficulties of moving a U.S. Marine base completely out of Japan's southernmost prefecture and to seek the governor's support to keep the base on the island.
According to local media sources, Hatoyama told Nakaima that it was important to maintain the existing accord reached in 2006 between the U.S. and Japan to maintain a strategic U.S. military deterrence in the region.
"In terms of deterrence, I have determined that transferring all of the functions at Futemma outside the prefecture or abroad is difficult," Hatoyama told reporters following his meeting with the Okinawa governor at his prefectural office in Okinawa's capital, Naha City.
Hatoyama also said he will apologize to the people of Okinawa over his government's handling of the Futemma relocation issue.
Since his rise to power last September, Hatoyama has met with staunch resistance from local citizens and officials in Okinawa over the relocation issue and his seeming failure to stand by his election pledge to move the base out of the island has fueled local opposition against the central government's latest plans to slightly modify the existing accord with the U.S. and keep the majority of Futemma's facilities on the island, although the premier contends a final plan has yet to be reached.
During Tuesday's meeting, Nakaima told Hatoyama he expects Hatoyama to reduce the burden on the people of Okinawa in "a visible way," and called for the central government to consolidate the U.S. military facilities in Okinawa and address issues of danger posed by the bases to local citizens.
"Calls for Futemma to be transferred outside the prefecture are growing among people in Okinawa," the governor said to Hatoyama in a meeting that was partially open to reporters.
"I would like the government to take them seriously and make efforts to remove risks posed by Futemma."
Nakaima went on to tell reporters after meeting with the premier that there is a "gap" between the central government and Okinawa residents, but the governor said he hoped the prime minister would hold true to his election campaign pledge and make every effort to move the base outside the island or even Japan entirely.
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