Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama came under fire yesterday for delaying a decision on moving a controversial US air base in a row the government admitted has damaged ties with Washington.
Hatoyama on Tuesday defied US pressure and postponed until next year a decision on where to relocate the unpopular base on Okinawa, a move the opposition branded “irresponsible.”
Tokyo and Washington agreed in 2006 that the base would be moved from a city area to a coastal region of the island, but Hatoyama, who took office three months ago, has said he is reviewing the plan.
Japan’s media and conservative opposition harshly criticized the center-left government for vacillating on the issue, and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada conceded that ties with the US had deteriorated.
“Our diplomacy has been going well, except for the Japan-US alliance,” Okada told a meeting of business leaders. “We have to quickly create an atmosphere in which we can discuss how we can improve the Japan-US alliance.”
An editorial in the Yomiuri Shimbun warned that the government was “running the risk of destroying the relationship of mutual trust Japan and the United States have built up over the years.”
“Of course, the prime minister bears the greatest responsibility for creating the current situation,” the mass-circulation daily said.
Shigeru Ishiba, a former defense chief and a senior figure in the opposition Liberal Democratic Party, said of Hatoyama: “He is just trying to be all things to all men. We cannot accept this inconsistent, irresponsible decision.”
In Washington, General James Conway, commandant of the US Marine Corps, said yesterday the postponement was “unfortunate,” warning it may push back a wider plan to reorganize US bases, which includes moving thousands of Marines to Guam.
Hatoyama said yesterday he wanted the plan completed by 2014, in line with the 2006 agreement, but it could be done before that.
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