Japan to put off decision on US base row

Japan will put off a decision on relocating a US airbase, foreign minister Katsuya Okada said on Tuesday, a delay that risks fanning US mistrust and doubts about Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama''s leadership.                                           

Tokyo is under U.S. pressure to implement a 2006 plan to relocate the Marines'' Futenma airbase on Okinawa to a less crowded part of the southern island as a pre-requisite for shifting up to 8,000 Marines to the US island of Guam.                                           

Hatoyama had originally intended to decide by the year-end what Japan would do, but chief cabinet secretary Hirofumi Hirano said the three parties making up the ruling coalition would continue to discuss the issue.

"On the issue of bases, we confirmed that the three parties would work together on the matter," Hirano told a news conference.                                           

Asked what that meant, foreign minister Okada told reporters later: "It means 'please wait a little longer'."                                           

He added that the coalition would try to keep any effect on the alliance with Washington to a minimum.                                           

The plan to move Futenma is part of a broader realignment of U.S. troops in Japan against a background of China''s rising role and an unpredictable North Korea.

Hatoyama has vowed to steer a diplomatic course less dependent on Washington, Tokyo''s longstanding security ally, and said during the August election campaign that swept him to office that he wanted to move the base off Okinawa.

Japanese media had reported that Washington wanted a decision on relocation by the end of the year. Any delay could breed mistrust in Washington, stall the shift of the Marines to Guam and raise questions about Hatoyama's leadership.

Hatoyama denied that the delay was irresponsible.

"Especially given the weight of the U.S.-Japan agreement, and on the other hand the strong feelings of the Okinawan people, even if we made an immediate decision, it would fall apart," he told reporters on Tuesday.

"I don''t believe I have taken an irresponsible attitude at all," he added, vowing to find a solution acceptable to all.                                           

Hirano declined to confirm reports the government had proposed a May 2010 deadline for a decision on relocating Futenma.                                            Kyodo news agency reported that the Social Democratic Party, a small coalition partner that wants the airbase moved off Okinawa entirely, had opposed setting a deadline.

An opinion poll by public broadcaster NHK on Monday showed approval for Hatoyama's government at 56 percent, down nine points from last month, while disapproval was up 13 points at 34 percent. 

The main factor behind the disapproval was Hatoyama's inability to get things done, the NHK poll showed.

An analyst, however, said the impact on Hatoyama from the base row depended in part on the U.S. reaction, including whether Washington agreed to new talks.

"From the US perspective, this (the 2006 deal) should have been maintained despite the change of government, so it would only be natural for them to feel betrayed," said Katsuhiko Nakamura, director of research at think tank Asian Forum Japan.