EDITORIAL: Futenma folly

When all is said and done, it seems incredible that the government intends to solve the vexing issue of where to relocate the Futenma airfield in Okinawa Prefecture by simply forming a plan that is almost identical to the one agreed to in 2006 by Japan and the United States.

Does this administration truly believe it can go ahead with this scheme without gaining the acceptance of Okinawa Prefecture, which must continue bearing the burden?

The top foreign affairs and defense officials of the two countries will issue a joint statement on the issue later this month. They are now in the final stage of coming up with a plan on the relocation of the Marine Corps Air Station Futenma. The statement is expected to make clear that a replacement facility will be built in an area around the Henoko coast in Nago, also in Okinawa Prefecture, which is basically in line with what was agreed to in the 2006 accord.

The document is not expected to specify how the new facility will be built. But, there is growing speculation that Tokyo will adopt a plan involving land reclamation. Washington has shown an unwillingness to accept the Hatoyama administration's proposal to build a pier-type, pile-supported runway.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama is apparently hoping the joint statement will allow him to claim that he has honored his promise to settle the issue by his self-imposed end-of-May deadline. His handling of the issue will create serious problems for the future.

Hatoyama had repeatedly pledged to work out a plan that is supported by both Okinawa Prefecture and the United States. If his government decides, with U.S. agreement, to move the airfield to another location within the prefecture, it will be accused of putting its relations with Washington before the well-being of Okinawa Prefecture.

Hatoyama started reviewing the current plan with a clear desire to ease the burden placed on Okinawa Prefecture. But he is now poised to go back on his word and go over the head of Okinawa Prefecture in settling the issue with the United States. The people of Okinawa Prefecture will feel that they have been doubly betrayed by Hatoyama.

There are indeed some urgent security issues that have put pressure on Tokyo to repair its strained ties with Washington quickly, such as the sinking of a South Korean warship by North Korea and the crisis over Iran's nuclear ambitions.

There is no question about the importance of keeping the bilateral security alliance on a solid footing. Yet, it is vital for the government to have relations based on mutual trust with Okinawa Prefecture if it really wants to find a solution to the U.S. bases issue.

The political situation in Okinawa Prefecture has changed dramatically in recent months. Okinawans have become more vocal before in demanding that the Futenma airfield be moved out of their prefecture, preferably out of the country.

For the first time, voters in Nago have elected a mayor clearly opposed to the plan to build a new facility to take over Futenma functions in the city. Even Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima, who has shown conditional support to the relocation of the base to Henoko, now finds it hard to agree to the plan being considered by the central government.

If the Hatoyama administration forges ahead with the Futenma relocation to Henoko in accordance with a new bilateral agreement, serious problems will inevitably occur.

It's a fair bet that the 2014 deadline for the relocation under the current plan will become impossible to meet. That would be an undesirable development for the United States as well. Despite the Hatoyama administration's disastrous dithering on the issue, there are some encouraging signs of fresh efforts to reflect on the discriminatory system under which Okinawa has shouldered an unfair burden of national security. This could trigger a national debate on the bilateral security alliance.

Hatoyama will do a serious disservice to the nation if he splashes cold water on these positive changes in public opinion.

Again, we urge the administration to come up with a new strategy for tackling the issue and initiate dialogue on the security alliance and how its burden should be shared with the United States and Okinawa Prefecture. We also hope the Diet will take up these issues.

--The Asahi Shimbun, May 21