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US, Japan put off talks on relocation

Chances of an agreement on relocating a US Marines base on Okinawa by a deadline at the end of this month appeared to dim yesterday when officials said talks set for this week may be rescheduled.

Officials had already said that the death of a former city mayor in Okinawa could delay a meeting between his successor and Defense Minister Fukushiro Nukaga to try to clinch a deal on relocating the US Marines Futenma air base, because local officials could be unavailable while attending services for him.

The relocation of Futenma from a crowded part of Okinawa to an area straddling another base and the coast of Nago was agreed to by the US and Japan last October as a key element of a sweeping reorganization of the approximately 50,000 US troops in Japan.

But finalizing the details has already been hampered by local resident opposition in Okinawa, host to almost half the US military personnel in Japan, and elsewhere due to concerns about noise, crime and accidents associated with US bases.

US and Japanese officials had been set to meet tomorrow and Friday in Washington to try to conclude a deal to implement the October agreement, but Japan's top government spokesman Shinzo Abe said that the talks may be rescheduled.

"I have heard there is a possibility that plans for the talks on Thursday and Friday may be changed," he told a news conference, adding it was under discussion between the two sides.

Asked for the reason, Abe said only that there were "plans on the Japanese side and plans on the US side."

Earlier, Nukaga told reporters he had been set to meet Nago Mayor Yoshikazu Shimabukuro this week, but that it was unclear now if those talks would go ahead as planned due to the death of Nago mayor Tateo Kishimoto, 62, on Monday.

"I don't know," Nukaga told reporters when asked if it would be difficult to meet Shimabukuro this week.

"I would like to consult and then think about it," he said, adding he needed to check local officials' schedules.

The two central governments are divided over how much Tokyo should pay towards moving 8,000 US Marines from Okinawa, another core element of the reorganization plan.

Washington has proposed that Japan pay 75 percent of the US$10 billion it estimates is needed to move the Marines to the US territory of Guam.

Japan, which has huge state debts, wants to reduce the total cost as well as its share of the burden and provide at least some of the funds in the form of loans.

Washington has reportedly told Tokyo that the relocation to Guam would take decades unless the Japanese chip in a significant amount.

A prolonged delay in finalizing the agreement could irritate the US, which is trying to transform its military into a more flexible force globally.
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