Washington, October 15: US Defense Secretary Robert Gates travels to Japan to hold talks with a new government that has signaled a more independent stance towards Washington.
The Pentagon said on Wednesday that Gates will take up the sensitive issue of the US forces in Okinawa when he meets Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who has said he wants a “more equal” relationship with the United States.
Gates also was expected to discuss Japan’s decision to end its Indian Ocean naval refueling mission that supports the NATO-led military campaign in Afghanistan, Press Secretary Geoff Morrell told reporters.
The Defense Secretary’s visit, the first by a US cabinet member since the September elections, will provide a chance to “get-acquainted” with the new leadership and discuss the “ongoing transformation of the alliance,” Morrell said.
The visit would offer Gates a chance to stress the importance of an agreement struck with previous Japanese governments on the future of a controversial US Marine base in Okinawa, he said.
Hatoyama’s center-left government has called for a review of the agreement but Morrell suggested the administration was not ready to reopen negotiations.
The Japanese Prime Minister has said that he wants a review of the 2006 accord with Washington under which the current base would be closed, thousands of Marines moved to Guam, and others moved to a new US base to be built by 2014 in an Okinawa coastal area.
—–Agencies