By Jeff Marchesseault

GUAM - The Secretary of  State called him in from the cold to make one thing clear: the U.S. position on the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma from one part of Okinawa to another hasn't changed.

International news reports over the last several months indicate that the long-planned move must happen inside of Okinawa or the realignment of U.S. forces in the Pacific can't move forward, base construction on Guam can't start, and regional security will be left in jeopardy.

According to the Washington Post, Hillary Clinton, the nation's chief diplomat, worked straight through a snowstorm shutdown in Washington, D.C. last week to summon Japan's Ambassador to the U.S., Ichiro Fujisaki. And, apparently, the conversation was pretty one-sided.

The Washington Post article suggests the high level of priority attached to the official U.S. stance:

That she felt compelled to call the unusual meeting highlights what some U.S. and Asian officials say is an alarming turn in relations with Japan since Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama led an opposition party to victory in August elections...

To make sure Japan understood that the U.S. position has not changed, Clinton called in the Japanese ambassador during last week's storm, apparently having some impact.

"This is a thing that rarely occurs, and I think we should take this [Clinton's action] into account," the ambassador told reporters as he left the State Department.

This Washington Post report has surfaced in the diplomatic aftermath of a backpedaling mid-December announcement by Hatoyama that he would delay his decision on Futenma's replacement site until May of 2010. The prime minister had previously indicated that he would decide before the end of 2009. U.S. officials had been counting on the critical timing of a mid-December decision in order to greenlight construction spending for Guam's military buildup.

In a cautiously optimistic twist of fate, Hatoyama told The Mainichi Daily News on Monday that "a ruling coalition agreement that ignores the U.S. position is impossible." While somewhat encouraging to Washington, Hatoyama's latest declaration is much to the chagrin of Social Democrats (SDP), junior partners of Japan's coalition government. The pacifist SDP has consistently demanded the removal of Futenma Air Station from Okinawa.

Read the Washington Times story, "U.S. concerned about new Japanese premier Hatoyama", December 29, 2009.

Read The Mainichi Daily News story, "No go-ahead on Futenma without U.S. backing, says PM", December 29, 2009.

Read the New York Times story, "Standoff Over US Base Closure Sours US-Japan Ties", December 29, 2009.

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