US-Japan relations strained (Sen. Jim Inhofe)

As a result, relations between our two great nations have become strained. Recent Japanese elections may have something to do with this unexpected turn of events  which is affecting nearly every aspect of Japanese policymaking.
 
Relocation to Camp Schwab

After 13 years of negotiations, and an agreement signed in 2006 by both the U.S. and Japanese governments, the present Japanese government has stated that it may not honor the agreement that allows the U.S. to relocate the U.S. Marine’s Futenma Air Station from the crowded city of Ginowan to Camp Schwab in the less populated part of northern Okinawa. This agreement also includes the redeployment of 8,000 Marines and other personnel to new facilities in Guam, and thus leads to the return of thousands of acres of land to the Japanese.  

A delay in deciding whether to honor the 2006 agreement threatens the mutual cooperative security of our two countries. Unfortunately, many speculate that the present Japanese government of Prime Minister Hatoyama will continue delaying a final decision until after the July 2010 Japanese Upper House legislative elections.  The implication that domestic politics is intruding into the national security decision-making process is very troubling.   
 
Parent Child Abductions

The United States has experienced an increasing problem with Japanese individuals living in the United States abducting their American-born children and successfully returning to a safe harbor in Japan.  Shockingly, it is my understanding that since 1952 when Japan regained its sovereignty, not a single kidnapped child from an American parent has ever been returned to the U.S. from Japan.

According to the Department of State, 269 American children have been kidnapped since 1994 alone.  This is unacceptable. This tragedy for these American children and their left-behind American parents is overwhelming and must come to an end.

The U.S. and countries across the globe have called upon Japan to ratify the 1980 Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction.

These two areas strain relations between our country and Japan.  As a nation, we must work with the Japanese to reach a successful solution to both our military realignment plans and the problem of Japanese parent child abduction.