Japan, U.S. issue joint statement on Futenma; SDP leader Fukushima expresses opposition
The U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma
(Mainichi Japan) May 28, 2010
Japan and the United States on Friday issued a joint statement on the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, saying that the base would be moved to Okinawa Prefecture's Camp Schwab Henoko-saki area and adjacent waters.
The statement said that the replacement site's runway would be 1,800 meters long, and that Tokunoshima Island in Kagoshima would be considered as a place to conduct bilateral and unilateral training outside of Okinawa "subject to the development of appropriate facilities." In the statement, Japan and the U.S. also "committed to examine the relocation of training outside of Japan, such as to Guam."
The government is set to convene an extraordinary Cabinet meeting over the relocation and decide on related measures after passing a Cabinet resolution, which requires the signatures of Cabinet members, or reaching a Cabinet agreement.
Social Democratic Party (SDP) leader Mizuho Fukushima, a member of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Cabinet, had opposed including references to Henoko in the joint statement. If she refuses to sign a Cabinet agreement, it is believed that Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will consider dismissing her. Hatoyama refrained from holding a news conference immediately after the statement was issued, as government negotiations over the issue remain turbulent.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Fukushima said, "I never imagined that we would return to Henoko, so it's very disappointing." However, she indicated she would not resign from the Cabinet of her own accord.
"I am not thinking of that at all," she said.
On Friday the SDP held a meeting of party members in both houses of the Diet and agreed that Fukushima would not sign a Cabinet agreement based on the joint statement. Earlier, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano met with SDP Secretary General Yasumasa Shigeno and told him that an extraordinary Cabinet meeting would be held later in the day to confirm the government's policy on the issue.
SDP leader Mizuho Fukushima, center, is pictured Friday following talks with party officials. (Mainichi)
On Friday morning, Hatoyama suggested that he would settle the relocation issue the same day, telling reporters, "We will present a conclusion today. This goes without saying."
Fukushima, meanwhile, criticized the fact that the SDP had not been informed of the details of the joint statement in advance.
"We're in a coalition government, so we should be informed of the details in advance. I would have liked to have been told," she told a news conference. Later, Fukushima told reporters that she had decided in a meeting of party officials not to sign any Cabinet agreement if the joint Japan-U.S. statement included references to relocating the Futenma base to the Henoko area.
Due to Fukushima's resistance, there is a strong view within the government that Hatoyama will have no option but to dismiss her from the Cabinet.
In a news conference on Friday, Minister of Defense Toshimi Kitazawa suggested that Fukushima should leave the Cabinet if she refuses to sign an agreement.
"Refusing to resign is an expression of distrust toward the prime minister. As she is a politician, it goes without saying that she should make her position clear before all this. If she stays in the Cabinet and retains her opposition, it will threaten the existence of the Cabinet," he said.
Meanwhile, Shizuka Kamei, leader of the People's New Party, which also belongs to the ruling coalition, told reporters at the Diet, "In the end it's an issue that can't be solved without cooperation and understanding from people in Okinawa. It's a developing situation."
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