(AFP) – 2 hours ago

HONOLULU, Hawaii — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton Tuesday urged Japan to find a solution to a row over a US air base in Japan by May and stick by a 2006 deal struck by previous US and Japanese governments.

"I have stressed again today... that it is important to move on Futenma," Clinton told reporters at a press conference with her Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada after talks in Hawaii.

"We remain of the opinion that the realignment road map is the way forward," she added, referring to the 2006 deal.

Standing with her Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada, Clinton also stressed that Japan understands their alliance, which has underpinned security in Asia for 50 years, is "fundamental to the future" of both Japan and the region.

Okada, speaking through an interpreter, reiterated that Japan would resolve the issue by May, a point echoed by Clinton.

In the run up to the meeting, both Clinton and Okada vowed not to let the dispute over the Futenma Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa undermine a US-Japanese alliance that has underpinned security in Asia for 50 years.

Tokyo's relations with its most important ally have been strained over the Futenma base, which Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has suggested should be moved off the southern island of Okinawa or even outside Japan altogether.

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Clinton, Okada begin talks on disputed US base

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada began talks here Wednesday aimed at defusing a row over a US air base in Japan and bolstering their long alliance.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and her Japanese counterpart Katsuya Okada began talks here Wednesday aimed at defusing a row over a US air base in Japan and bolstering their long alliance.

As they sat down for hour-long talks at a hotel on the Pacific Ocean outside Honolulu, Clinton broke the ice with talk about the "close connection" President Barack Obama has with Hawaii, where he was born and grew up.

In the runup to the meeting, both Clinton and Okada vowed not to let the dispute over the Futenma Air Base on the Japanese island of Okinawa undermine a US-Japanese alliance that has underpinned security in Asia for 50 years.

"Futenma is a very important issue, but we can't let it affect the broader alliance," Okada told the Washington Post, just before the talks.

He expressed the hope it would last another "30 years or 50 years or longer."

Clinton, speaking to reporters on the way to Honolulu on Monday, also played down the dispute. "The significance of our meeting is to reaffirm the centrality of our 50-year-old alliance," she said.

"It (the alliance) provides stability for the region. And I think it's much bigger than any one particular issue," Clinton said, suggesting the alliance trumped the problem of the base.

State Department acting spokesman Gordon Duguid told reporters in Washington that "this particular issue of rebasing is something that we will work through.

"The US believes we have a good agreement on the table. The Japanese are considering that agreement," Duguid said.

Tokyo's relations with its most important ally have been strained over the Futenma base, which Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has suggested should be moved off the southern island of Okinawa or even outside Japan altogether.

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