Print
Tokyo-Washington ties need revamp: Japan
Admin - Oct 29, 09
http://www.geopoliticalmonitor.com/tokyo-washington-ties-need-revamp-japan-1
October 29, 2009 (Press TV) - As ministers weight options over the US' Nago military base, the Japanese prime minister says he will thoroughly review the 1960 security treaty between Tokyo and Washington.
Yukio Hatoyama, whose government swept to power in an August election, said on Thursday that "it is time the overall defense alliance is reviewed."
The review includes the presence of more than 8,000 US military personnel in Japan, which costs the country USD 32 million a year, he told the Lower House of Parliament.
Hatoyama has been under fire from the opposition, which accuses him of sending wrong messages to the United States. The Liberal Democratic Party demands that Hatoyama clarify his plans before US President Barack Obama visits Japan in November.
After more than a decade of wrangling, and considering the sentiment of the people in Okinawa, it is time for the government to actually move forward and relocate the US military base in Nago he said.
However, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa have begun "to seriously examine other possibilities" than relocating the base, Hatoyama said, but stressed that he will have the final say on the matter.
