Defense chief backs May deadline for Futenma

Japan needs to decide where to relocate the U.S. Futenma air base by May, Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa said Tuesday.

"We should resolve the issue as quickly as possible," he said. "I see (a May deadline) as a time schedule that (the three political parties in the ruling bloc) have been aware of with each other."

Although Kitazawa said the two small parties allied with the Democratic Party of Japan "have shared the basic understanding" that this is the schedule for resolving the issue, there were no voices supporting his view.

Mizuho Fukushima, head of the left-leaning Social Democratic Party, told a separate news conference that the U.S. is taking a risk by proceeding with the plan to relocate the base within Okinawa, something the people there are strongly against.

Even Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama sounded vague about setting a deadline — just as he has before.

"I fully understand the basic stance of the U.S. (toward the base relocation issue)," Hatoyama told reporters in front of his official residence in the morning.

He said last week he will seek a new relocation site other than the one agreed on between the two countries, but fell short of setting a deadline, only saying he will need "several months" to reach a conclusion.

Tokyo is weighing whether to relocate the Futenma base to a new facility to be built farther north on Okinawa Island from its current location in crowded Ginowan in line with the 2006 bilateral agreement on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan.

Hatoyama's DPJ heads a three-month-old coalition government with Kokumin Shinto (People's New Party) and the SDP, whose votes it needs to pass bills in the Upper House.

The relocation plan was put together between Japan and the U.S. under a previous administration. The SDP has called for moving Futenma outside Okinawa or even abroad to lighten the burden on the prefecture's residents.

Kitazawa's remark came after Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton summoned Japanese Ambassador Ichiro Fujisaki to the State Department on Monday over the issue.

Fujisaki said after meeting with Clinton that there was no change in the U.S. position on the issue, without elaborating.

The meeting apparently reflects Washington's frustration over the lack of progress on the Futenma issue.

Clinton's call on Fujisaki was filed Monday morning, even though federal offices in the capital were closed due to a large snowstorm over the weekend.