Thursday, Jan. 21, 2010
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged a renewal and bolstering of the U.S.-Japan alliance as the two countries marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the security treaty amid a rift over relocating the Futenma airfield.
"America's commitment to Japan's security is unshakable, and our cooperation to meet common challenges is a critical part of our engagement with the world," Obama said in a statement.
"And just as we honor the countless Americans and Japanese who have built the ties that bind our nations, we also look to the future with a determination to build upon the foundation of their progress," he said.
Obama trumpeted the benefits of the pact, signed Jan. 19, 1960, and officially titled the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between Japan and the United States, despite the stalemate over where to move the operations of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa. The impasses is casting a shadow over the alliance.
Bettmann/CORBIS/Corbis Japan
"The enduring partnership between the United States of America and Japan has helped bring unprecedented prosperity and peace in freedom to our nations," he said.
"Our alliance has secured extraordinary benefits for the entire Asia-Pacific region and made possible the unparalleled progress of the past five decades," he said.
The alliance, however, has been strained since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party of Japan rode into power in September on a platform calling for more "equal" Japan-U.S. ties.
The Hatoyama administration is reviewing the bilateral deal on the base relocation, indicating Tokyo could renege on the plan to transfer Futenma's aircraft operations to a less-populated site in Okinawa.
Washington has been pressing Tokyo to stick to the 2006 deal, under which the base's operations would be moved by 2014, but Hatoyama has delayed reaching a decision until May and is looking at alternatives, including a move out of Okinawa or even the country.
The 2006 deal is part of a broader agreement on the reconfiguration of U.S. forces in Japan, including the transfer of some 8,000 marines from Okinawa to Guam.
Kurt Campbell, U.S. assistant secretary of state for East Asia and Pacific affairs, said Tuesday he will visit Japan in early February for talks on bilateral relations, including the Futenma issue.
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