Japan's new govt seeks to reassure US
Thursday, 3 September 2009
TOKYO, Sept 2 (Reuters): Japan's new government sought to reassure security ally Washington Wednesday that no upheaval is in store for US-Japan relations, as the country gropes toward a rare handover of power.
The Democratic Party of Japan has begun a transition to power after trouncing the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in an election on Sunday, with parliament due to appoint Democrats' leader Yukio Hatoyama prime minister in two weeks.
Managing relations with the United States, Tokyo's closest security ally, is high on the agenda as a new American ambassador ruled out any changes to controversial plans to relocate some US bases in Japan.
Hatoyama wants to chart a new course more independent of Washington without damaging an alliance long at the core of Japan's diplomacy and a senior Democratic Party lawmaker sought on Wednesday to allay simmering concerns, including among investors, over the relationship.
"We have repeatedly said Japan-US relations are most important as a basic principle in diplomacy and stressed the importance of continuity in diplomacy," Kohei Otsuka said in an interview with Reuters.
The Democrats have said they want to reexamine an agreement governing US military forces in Japan and a deal under which about 8,000 Marines will leave for the US territory of Guam and a Marine Corps air base would be shifted to a less populated part of the southern island of Okinawa.
The Democratic Party of Japan has begun a transition to power after trouncing the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) in an election on Sunday, with parliament due to appoint Democrats' leader Yukio Hatoyama prime minister in two weeks.
Managing relations with the United States, Tokyo's closest security ally, is high on the agenda as a new American ambassador ruled out any changes to controversial plans to relocate some US bases in Japan.
Hatoyama wants to chart a new course more independent of Washington without damaging an alliance long at the core of Japan's diplomacy and a senior Democratic Party lawmaker sought on Wednesday to allay simmering concerns, including among investors, over the relationship.
"We have repeatedly said Japan-US relations are most important as a basic principle in diplomacy and stressed the importance of continuity in diplomacy," Kohei Otsuka said in an interview with Reuters.
The Democrats have said they want to reexamine an agreement governing US military forces in Japan and a deal under which about 8,000 Marines will leave for the US territory of Guam and a Marine Corps air base would be shifted to a less populated part of the southern island of Okinawa.