By John Brinsley and Sachiko Sakamaki Jan. 15 (Bloomberg) — Japan’s top diplomatic priority is strengthening an alliance with a U.S. administration that is engaged in Asia and can help counter China’s military buildup, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said in an interview. Okada praised President Barack Obama for his commitment to Asia, contrasting it with a more distant policy under President George W. Bush . He played down a dispute with the U.S. over relocating American troops in Japan, saying Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama will fulfill his promise to reach a solution by May. “We highly appreciate how the Obama administration positioned the U.S. as an Asia-Pacific nation and has more engagement and interest in this region,” Okada said yesterday in his office in Tokyo . “The situation is quite different from the Bush administration era. It’s very important that the U.S. sustains that interest.” While China’s economic growth, forecast by the International Monetary Fund to be 9 percent this year, is “very favorable both for Japan and the entire region,” its military spending “is something we’re very concerned about,” Okada said. “We need to see that such an increase in spending won’t lead to a regional arms race.” China on Jan. 11 tested an anti-missile system that it said was defensive in nature and not targeted at any country. Its government said last March it would increase 2009 military spending by 15 percent to 480.6 billion yuan ($70.3 billion). Japan’s 2009 defense budget shrank for a seventh year to 4.77 trillion yen ($52 billion). Base Relocation Hatoyama’s Democratic Party of Japan in August ousted the Liberal Democratic Party from half a century of almost uninterrupted rule. After taking office, Hatoyama, 62, called for a relationship in which Japan and the U.S. could exchange views “frankly.” While he cited Obama’s call for change as his inspiration, he also irritated the U.S. by putting off a decision over whether to honor a 2006 agreement to relocate the Futenma Marine Corps Air Base within the island of Okinawa. Okada, who met three days ago with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Hawaii to discuss the impasse, said the U.S. “has come to understand the reality” behind the situation. Both the DPJ and one of its coalition partners campaigned on moving the base off the island in response to local complaints of pollution, noise and crime. The U.S. wants the original agreement implemented. “It’s natural that policy reflects the voices of national and local people,” Okada said. “We’re not going to take endless time on this. We’re studying the matter and have set a deadline of May.” Security Alliance Clinton, 62, and Okada, 56, agreed to start talks on deepening the bilateral security alliance, which this month marks its 50th anniversary. Okada yesterday dismissed as “meaningless” any suggestion that Japan will be forced to choose between the U.S. and China as the two compete for influence in Asia. “This is not an issue of choosing one or the other,” Okada said. “For Japan, the U.S. is important and China is important. But the U.S. and Japan are allies, and China has a different political system.” The Hatoyama and Obama administrations must “establish a common understanding and outlook for the security environment in the region so the Japan-U.S. alliance will be sustainable for the next 30 to 50 years,” he said. To contact the reporters on this story: John Brinsley in Tokyo at jbrinsley@bloomberg.net ; Sachiko Sakamaki in Tokyo at Ssakamaki1@bloomberg.net
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Close Japan-U.S. Ties Vital to Counter China Military Buildup, Okada Says
