this is the subcommittee hearing on u s japan relations i believe this is the first time that we've had a hearing hopefully there will be more to come this year marks the fiftieth a less populated part of okinawa two months ago i signed a letter with chairman and ranking members of the house foreign affairs committee and armed services committee expressing our continued support for the guam volatile the burdens the okinawan people have shouldered on behalf of the alliance should not be underestimated with less than one percent of japan's land area ok its people face discrimination throughout japan in dealing with the food general relocation issue we must not neglect politically we must also recognize that prime minister approval ratings have deteriorated from almost eighty percent when he took office to now somewhere between thirty to forty percent largely as a result of the financial scandals  that transcends party certainly one that transcends personalities we are the two largest economies in the world and our security alliance has lasted for fifty years the alliance has been a force for stability in a very tough neighborhood but there is cause for concern japan's government is some japanese leaders would like to see tokyo more towards beijing over the relocation of u s marines okinawa has been badly handled i think most japanese would agree with that statement there is a threat that this issue could fill in to the functional operations of our alliance but this is not just an issue for u japan relations our alliance provides the oxygen for many in the region it is part of the security network throughout asia u s allies singapore australia south korea the philippines they are concerned the good news is that the japanese public maintains its support for the us japan alliance about seventy five percent about two thirds of the japanese think that the alliance has been poorly handled handled by the new government that the u s security guarantee in asia has allowed the region's countries to link themselves together not with military but with trade we provide the stability for free trade to flow yet we are on the sidelines when it comes to trade in the good enough i'd also on another subject make the point that japan's population density geography make it entirely different when discussing public transportation then with respect to the united states we look at economic merit when addressing infrastructure or at least should the japanese situation with the development of their public transit system they're a very rational thing for japan to have done thank you very much mr chairman and i yield back party of japan and for the first time in nearly fifty years there's a change in the governing party in japan i lived in okinawa in the early seventy's as american  staunch allies we work together on a broad range of critical issues from the united nations in the six party talks to increasing regional economic integration promoting democracy and human rights climate change piracy off the horn of africa like united states japan experienced political change last year at the end of august two thousand and nine japan held an election for the lower house in that election the democratic party of japan won a dramatic ending fifty five years of almost one broken rule by the liberal democratic party united states congratulated japan on this historic election and joined the people of japan roles grown in scope with cooperation on everything from missile defense to information security through the defense policy review initiative has made a landmark alliance commitment to implement a common security concerns if we term a replacement facility a linchpin of the realignment roadmap is currently being reviewed by the new japanese government the government of japan has stated that its review of the relocation issue will conclude by secretary clinton has said we are respectful of the japanese government at the same time our position remains that in terms of the security arrangements needed to protect and fulfill our treaty commitments and address critical development in iraq afghanistan africa and elsewhere as important as our goal as our global economic relationship has become we also need to continue our efforts to expand trade investment between us reconstruction activities in iraq and anti piracy operations off the horn of africa active in afghanistan's reconstruction since two thousand two hundred new government japan has become the second largest international contributor to to global cooperation on development efforts as well japan has been a strong supporter of the global nonproliferation regime and last december in copenhagen japanese leadership played a vital role in helping the international community take a meaningful step towards addressing the global challenge of climate change japan and united states have a great opportunity to advance regional prosperity during our back to back in two thousand and ten in two thousand and eleven respectively together are working with our apec partners to build resilient economy by preparing the region for natural disasters bolstering public health capabilities and ensuring an abundant and affordable whatever the challenges we may face in the next half discuss the u s japan security relationship the relationship between the united states and japan has provided stability and economic prosperity in the asia pacific region for more than sixty years is a relationship that is adapted and continues to evolve state of the relationship but i think it's important we put these concerns in perspective in light of the much more difficult trials our alliances endured in the past emerging stronger each time in light of the richard hand of cooperation currently underway and in light of the even more active agenda for represents a significant augmentation and strengthening of the missile defense capability to protect and our forces as part of the fiftieth anniversary agenda this year we have begun a formal dialogue with the japanese to address information cyber  security ballistic missile defense all of which are central issues for the twenty first century we believe that it is critical to be able to hold confidence discussions with the japanese government on a range of sensitive strategic issues and we look forward to doing  specifically the relocation of the ten may or the potential replacement facility is one component of a larger plan to consolidate u s presence on two existing bases and move away from the densely populated southern portion of the  package will allow us to reposition more than eight thousand marines from japan to guam and return nearly seventy percent of land south of the ok now and people all addressing noise environmental concerns and creating a lighter footprint a much more investment in our commitment to regional stability japan provides financial and logistical support the united states provides resources and manpower capabilities and together we create a robust alliance capacity an ever greater will control during ever greater responsibility in addressing regional security challenges maritime self defense forces remain active in piracy operations off the horn of africa an operation that has contributed to regional security and freedom of global  has been a model of trying to promote religious freedom and to mitigate persecution and same goes for the trafficking victims protection act which i was the prime sponsor of took two years to get it into law and that legislation also around the world you know world war two is over the cold war is over we still have fifty thousand soldiers in germany i believe correct me if i'm wrong on that and currently we have forty eight thousand military presence in party on the electoral scene suggest that you foreign policy will be subject to new types of scrutiny and perhaps a significant challenge in the legislature in short we should expect the japanese choices for the alliance will need to demonstrate greater salience domestically this should not be cause for alarm however good public policy should survive public scrutiny and legislative debate and the opportunity to engage the japanese public in our conversation over the future of the alliance agenda is welcome for too long in the post war years japan citizens had little access to or understanding of the debates that shape government choices in the alliance with united states moreover opposition party resistance to a debate over national security made constructive legislative oversight on policy difficult today we live in a different era and the time for a more direct debate in japan over security choices over the requirements of implementing alliance cooperation has gone given the complexity and the scope of the security challenges we share with japan today we need  direct and informed conversation about where the united states and japan can cooperate and perhaps where we cannot on august third two thousand and nine the democratic party of japan want to full majority in the lower house election ousting the liberal manifesto which called for changing the governance practices in japan this summer the upper house election will reveal how successful this year the first year of government has been in the eyes of the japanese people but it is need a foreign policy  even the relationship with the united states that most concerns japanese voters the democratic party of japan can campaign primarily on a domestic policy agenda including need for wholesale reform of japan's public finances and its social insurance infrastructure like the united states japan's political leaders are grappling with the consequences of the global economic downturn the new government will be judged harshly if it cannot attend to the need to boost economic growth and relieve unemployment from its first office the cabinet actively sought to articulate a new approach to japan's foreign policy the prime minister's speech in public in fact was at the u n climate change summit where he put forward a forceful statement on japan's commitment to global efforts to reduce carbon emissions likewise he spent another day in new york emphasizing his country's embrace of the goal of nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament from there he travelled to the g twenty meeting to reiterate his government's support for the collective effort to stabilize the global economy this is a government in other words that believes japan's agenda is global during the election campaign advocated an equal relationship with united states and an emphasis on japan's asian diplomacy as a member of the east asian community yet the impression is that this government seeks to advance its asian diplomacy at the expense of its bilateral alliance with the united states and this sensitivity here in washington has led to concerns over the longer term future of u s or pan alliance but this narrow some understanding of what motivates you government underestimates the broader social and political currents in northeast asia while building on the deep ties that come from a half century of security cooperation which upin we must also be mindful of the need for new approaches to our alliance cooperation we cannot afford to assume that our old habits of alliance management will continue to serve a changing japan let me offer five significant opportunities ahead but if embraced could strengthen and focus our security cooperation with japan first and foremost we must find an acceptable relocation facility for the u s marine corps and close i'm a marine air station today the issue of stem relocation seems all consuming and this is led many to assume that japan's new government seeks to undermine our military cooperation this is i believe a misreading of the sentiment both of the new government towards the alliance but also of the sentiments regarding the us military presence there in the aftermath of prefectural outrage over the rape of a twelve year old child the united states and japan moved quickly to reduce the footprint of u s forces on this small island closing was an integral part of this response and the announcement by prime minister h and the us ambassador walter mondale that this base would be closed met with japanese approval as we seek in these coming months to find a compromise solution i urge our two governments to reflect on the promise made at a time deep distress we cannot continue to risk an accident or civilian lives could be at risk but as importantly we should not risk the credibility of our promises in the eyes of the japanese public at a time when the value and the need for our alliance is so immense no matter what the politics of the moment look like the u s and japanese governments both must remember that the integrity of the u s japan alliance will be judged not only on the potential to meet crises from without but also on the capacity to fulfill promises to the citizens  and more broadly the two governments will also need to assess some of the oversight mechanisms for managing the u s troop presence in japan the demand for greater transparency and accountability is part of any democratic nations politics support for the u s japan alliance remains  strong but it is a policy management practices of maintaining forty some thousand troops on the ground that needs adjustment japan's governors for example are the need for a better set of guidelines for managing the environment around us military bases bilateral discussion on best practices could provide the opportunity to strengthen the relationship between u s commanders and local communities and satisfy the growing desire for greater government accountability that is part and parcel of japanese democracy third and equally important tokyo and washington must review and reconfirm their understanding of the alliance a strategic goals of priorities the current initiative begun by secretary of state clinton and foreign minister okada at their meeting in january provides an excellent venue for exploring assumptions about contemporary security challenges this would be a good moment to reflect on the strategic goals for the us japan alliance set forth in february two thousand and five and to update our common priorities for alliance cooperation the asia pacific region is changing quickly and our security cooperation must attend to these changes coupled with his expert review of our alliance agenda we must also consider carefully the opportunity for president obama to reach out to the japanese public in november two thousand a  new generation of japanese coming into positions of leadership a generation that has a different understanding both of the past and of the current relationship with united states there is a new opportunity here and indeed a new need to revisit our shared histor and to recommit to a shared future as we look forward we should address our past including an acknowledgement of the painful cost of world war two to both our countries the president's second visit to tokyo should be one where he spent time with the japanese public explaining the importance of the treaty commitments but also highlighting the american commitment to crafting a common future for two people fourth to meet the growing demand for collective action in the asia pacific region the u s and japan must identify ways to strengthen multilateral security cooperation with a broad array of regional partners in the past decade we can see new challenges for governments and for the collective capacity of the countries of the region to cope with significant security challenges south korea and japan intensify their cooperation on how to cope with a belligerent north korea and this ought to be continued including our collaboration on ballistic missile defense other opportunities working closely with japan and other regional powers on building for disaster relief and humanitarian assistance after our experienced the united states and japan together could offer a powerful partnership in the global effort to ensure security against those who would and in mapping out is that your path to reducing our dependence on these weapons in other words the united states and japan must of problems from economic reform to the continuing north korean nuclear and missile threat and the new government come up with concrete policies to deal with many of them i would suggest however that the  indication that increasing benefit in moving closer to china on issues ranging from trade to security we must also respect the choices of a democratically elected government and recognize the current trends in japanese policy worry that the united states will over time decrease its military presence in the and that washington will consider china in coming decades as the indispensable partner for solving problems both regional and global i call it full of contradictions somewhat hypocritical in the fact that it's ok for the five permanent members of the council to continue to hold on to some twenty thousand nuclear weapons