Japan's Hatoyama to meet U.S. envoy
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Thursday, September 3, 2009; 2:34 AM
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's next leader Yukio Hatoyama was to meet the U.S. ambassador on Thursday as concerns simmered about the allies' ties after an election win by Hatoyama's party, which has pledged a more independent diplomatic course.
Hatoyama, whose Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) crushed the long-ruling Liberal Democrats in Sunday's election, sought to reassure U.S. President Barack Obama in a phone call early on Thursday that the relationship would stay central to Tokyo's diplomacy.
"I told him we think the U.S.-Japan alliance is the foundation (of Japanese diplomacy) and I would like to build U.S.-Japan relations with eyes on the future," Hatoyama told reporters after his conversation with Obama.
The prospect of a Democratic Party administration in Japan, ruled for most of the past half-century by a conservative party that put the U.S. partnership at the core of its security stance, has raised worries in Washington about a tilt away from the alliance.
Most analysts say no huge shift is in store once Hatoyama takes up the premiership on September 16 but investors are also concerned about a possible rocky road ahead.
The Democrats pledged in their campaign platform to create a more equal partnership with Washington while forging warmer ties with Asian neighbors such as China.
The U.S.-educated Hatoyama also raised eyebrows in Washington with a recent essay, published in English, in which he attacked the "unrestrained market fundamentalism" of U.S.-led globalization. He has since sought to play down those comments.
"It was an error of judgment on the part of Hatoyama and the DPJ to have the essay published in English," said Koichi Nakano, a professor at Tokyo's Sophia University.
"It was for domestic consumption and had its purpose in the campaign context, but putting it out in English for an American audience was unwise."
U.S. officials, however, have raised eyebrows themselves in Tokyo by forcefully reiterating Washington's position that deals on U.S. forces in Japan were not up for renegotiation.
RISKING BACKLASH?
The Democrats have said they want to reexamine an agreement governing U.S. military forces in Japan and a deal on rejigging U.S. troops under which about 8,000 Marines would leave for the U.S. territory of Guam and a Marine air base be shifted to a less populated part of the southern island of Okinawa.