U.S. pressures Japan on military deal

TOKYO, Oct. 22 (UPI) -- The Obama administration warned Japan of repercussions if it tries to redraw a military realignment plan formulated to deal with China.

After meeting with Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates urged the Japanese government Wednesday to keep its commitment to the military agreement, The Washington Post reported Thursday.

"It is time to move on," Gates said, warning that dismantling the troop "realignment road map" would be "immensely complicated and counterproductive."

Officials of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan last week announced Japan would withdraw from its mission in the Indian Ocean to refuel warships supporting U.S.-led coalition forces in Afghanistan. They also said they would reopen negotiations on a $26 billion military package involving the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps helicopter base in Japan and moving 8,000 U.S. Marines from Japan to Guam.

A senior State Department official told the Post Japan's new ruling party doesn't have experience in government and came to power wanting politicians, not bureaucrats, to be in charge.

The State Department official said the United States had "grown comfortable" thinking about Japan as a steady fixture in U.S. relations in Asia but the DPJ victory changed the relationship.

"The hardest thing right now is not China, it's Japan," the official said.