US military F/A-18D Hornets take off from the US Marine Corps Futenma Air Base in Okinawa. AFP/Getty ImagesJapan Cabinet Meets On U.S. Base As Support Sags -- Reuters
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and a handful of cabinet ministers tried to hammer out a policy on the relocation of a U.S. airbase on Monday, as the row weighed on voter support ahead of an election.
Hatoyama said he would stick to a self-imposed end-of-May deadline for resolving the feud, which has been one of the triggers for evaporating voter support in the run-up to an upper house election expected in July.
Read more ....
More News On The U.S. Base in Okinawa And Japan's Desire To Close It
Japanese PM backtracks on Futemma resolution deadline promise -- Xinhuanet
Japan ‘Making Every Effort’ to Keep May Deadline on Base Issue -- Bloomberg Businessweek
Japan PM 'may drop May deadline' in US base row -- AFP
Japan PM meets Cabinet to discuss US Marine base -- AP
US says confident of deal to end Japan base row -- AFP
SCENARIOS - Japan PM bind worsens as U.S. base row deadline nears -- Reuters
Moving Forward From Futenma -- Carolyn Leddy, Wall Street Journal opinion
My Comment: In a week in which we have another story of Chinese naval vessels intimidating Japanese Coast Guard ships, North Korean nuclear proliferation and probable involvement in the sinking of the South Korea vessel Cheonan, and the slow buildup and expansion of the Chinese military .... the Japanese PM decides to focus his attention on the US Marine base in Okinawa.
No wonder his poll numbers are in the tank.
On a side note .... after watching last night's episode #9 of the series "The Pacific" and it's coverage of the Okinawan campaign .... I cannot help but feel that the U.S. has every right to play hardball. But feelings aside .... a resolution will be found, it is just that the Japanese PM was too optimistic on his plans when he first proposed them a few months back.
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