Updated at 11:49 a.m., Monday, January 11, 2010
Japan foreign minister visits Hawaii for military talks
Associated Press
HONOLULU — The Japanese foreign minister is visiting Hawaii for talks with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the relocation of a U.S. Marine Corps base in Okinawa.
Katsuya Okada is meeting with military leaders at the U.S. Pacific Command on Monday. He’s also paying his respects at Punchbowl, the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
He will meet Clinton on Tuesday and discuss the fate of the U.S. Marine Corps airfield at Futenma in Okinawa.
The U.S. and Japan agreed in 2006 to move Futenma to another part of Okinawa. But Okinawa residents oppose the move and want the airfield to be shut down.
Clinton is stopping in Honolulu en route to Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea.