POTENTIAL FORUM SHOPPING: OKINAWA GOVERNOR'S VISIT TO

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAHA 000132 FOR EAP/J E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/10/2018 TAGS: MARR MOPS PREL JA PINS PGOV SUBJECT: POTENTIAL FORUM SHOPPING: OKINAWA GOVERNOR'S VISIT TO WASHINGTON REF: TOKYO 3154, NAHA 65 CLASSIFIED BY: Kevin K. Maher, Consul General, U.S. Consulate General, Naha, Japan, Department of State.. REASON: 1.4 (b),(d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST: Okinawa's Prefectural Governor is planning to visit Washington D.C. between January 7-11 and again in May or June of 2009 to seek meetings with USG officials. He intends to ask for changes to bilaterally-agreed base realignment plans for Okinawa, the return of three U.S. force training ranges located within the prefecture of Okinawa, and possibly revisions to the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). The USG position is to reject such requests. We ask that any office that is approached with a request to receive Governor Nakaima coordinate its response with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Affairs David Sedney in order to maintain a unified USG response and to prevent forum shopping by the Governor. END SUMMARY AND ACTION REQUEST. ¶2. (C) On December 5, Okinawa Prefectural Governor Hirokazu Nakaima informed visiting Senator Daniel Inouye that he now intends to travel to Washington between January 7-11. The Governor had postponed an earlier plan to travel to Washington last September (reftel B). The Governor indicated that he will be seeking meetings with USG officials, despite the difficulty of arranging such meetings during the transition period. Although Governor Nakaima has been far more supportive of U.S. Forces and facilities in Okinawa than his predecessor, he is seeking problematic changes to our bilateral security agreements, including agreed base realignment plans in Okinawa. In addition, the Governor recently has said publicly that he plans to use his visit to Washington to press for the early return of three U.S. forces training ranges in Okinawa. The USG has responded to such suggestions for changes to our agreements several times in the past year at the highest levels, noting that we expect the base realignment plans to be implemented as agreed. We have told the Governor that the forum to raise any new requests for training range returns would be via the Government of Japan to the bilateral Joint Committee, composed of senior GOJ and USG officials in Tokyo (ref A). Governor Nakaima does not like the answers he hears, and apparently hopes that if he forum shops in Washington, he may get another answer more to his liking. ¶3. (C) If Governor Nakaima were to secure meetings in Washington, we believe he would make the following four long-standing requests: -- REVISIONS TO FUTENMA REPLACEMENT FACILITY (FRF): Although Governor Nakaima says he supports building the FRF replacement facility for Marine Corps Air Station Futenma he still insists in his discussions with the GOJ that he must uphold his previous election promise to secure revisions to the base realignment plan that was agreed between the two governments. Nakaima would seek USG support for his proposed revisions. Visiting OSD officials and the Consul General have stressed in meetings this year with Nakaima that the USG expects the FRF plan to be implemented as agreed, and have further explained that attempting to revise the runway location could threaten to unravel the entire U.S.-GOJ realignment package. The Secretary of Defense, Ambassador Schieffer, and other senior USG officials on many occasions have told the GOJ that we are not prepared to revise the agreed plan for FRF. We also have stressed that the successful completion of FRF is a condition for the move of 8,000 Marines to Guam from Okinawa, and for the consolidation/return of facilities south of Kadena. -- PUTTING FUTENMA INTO A "CLOSED STATE": In recent months, Governor Nakaima has called for the USG and GOJ to develop stopgap measures to "reduce the danger and noise" at Futenma while relocation is underway, by putting MCAS Futenma into a "closed state." In late July, Governor Nakaima succeeded in persuading the GOJ to establish a new internal working group to explore his ideas. This is a red herring that threatens to derail our efforts to put the FRF construction timeline back on track. We have consistently told the Governor that the functions and capabilities of MCAS Futenma must be fully maintained until relocated to the new FRF facility as agreed. -- FUNDAMENTAL SOFA REVISIONS: Governor Nakaima repeatedly calls for "fundamental" revision of the SOFA. Both the USG and the GOJ consistently take the position that we are not prepared to enter into discussions on revising the SOFA, but instead focus on improving the operation of the SOFA. The ongoing forum for such discussions is the bi-weekly meeting of the Joint Committee. -- RETURN OF ADDITIONAL U.S. TRAINING RANGES IN OKINAWA: In recent weeks, the Governor has approached senior USG officials for assistance in returning three U.S. forces training ranges located in Okinawa at Kume Jima and Tori Shima island and part of the sea-based "Hotel-Hotel" range. The Governor argues that use of these ranges negatively impacts Okinawa's local fishing and tourism industries. On November 12, Ambassador Schieffer informed Governor Nakaima that he should raise land return requests through the Joint Committee process, while explaining that the use of these ranges by U.S. forces is essential to maintaining readiness. We also have responded here in Okinawa that our focus now should remain on implementing the agreed realignment plan. ¶4. (C) ACTION REQUESTED: A unified USG stance is critical to our ongoing efforts to secure implementation of the agreed plans on realignment in Okinawa. It is important that Governor Nakaima not be allowed to forum shop in Washington, since he will use ever opportunity to try and bypass normal channels to seek an answer that he can construe as flexibility on the part of the USG to revise our agreed program. In order to avoid this problem, the Embassy requests that any USG organization approached to meet with Governor Nakaima coordinate its response directly with Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs David Sedney. END ACTION REQUEST. ¶6. (U) This message has been approved by Ambassador Schieffer. MAHER