Despite heavy U.S. pressure, Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama appears to have given up on resolving the controversial relocation of a U.S. Marine base in Okinawa before year's end and is now floating Guam as an option.
"I think it is necessary to consider whether moving the whole facility to Guam would be appropriate from the viewpoint of deterrence and the U.S.," Hatoyama said. "The people on Guam are counting on it."
But whether or not the U.S. is also hoping to move the whole base to Guam and whether moving the marines there would still give them and remaining U.S. military assets in Okinawa adequate deterrence capability "is a different issue," he said.