Senior US aide meets Japanese FM amid Okinawa tensions
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U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell met with Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada in Tokyo on Thursday amid tension about what is to happen to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) that allows U.S. troops to remain in Okinawa.
Since the governing Democratic Party of Japan came to power in September, it has repeatedly said it would like to review the SOFA agreement with a view to making changes to it.
On Friday, Okada was scheduled to meet U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington, but after a week of confusion, the visit was canceled, with Okada citing parliamentary duties as the reason.
The DPJ denied on Wednesday that the visit was in place of the Okada-Clinton meeting. Foreign Ministry Press Secretary Kazuo Kodama said that Campbell's visit was a stopover after meetings in Myanmar, and not a rushed appointment after Okada's appointment with Clinton fell through.
The SOFA agreement states that a number of troops will leave Japan and be stationed in Guam, while the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station in Ginowan will be moved to Nago, a less heavily populated town within Okinawa by 2014. It is unpopular in Japan and has proved an emotive issue in Okinawa.
On an October visit to Japan, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates talked tough on the deal, saying the current agreement, which was signed by the former governing Liberal Democratic Party and the administration of President George W. Bush "is the best alternative for everyone, and it is time to move on."
That advice is, however, unlikely to be heeded by a DPJ elected on a platform of political change.
