Hatoyama and his government have been caught between its coalition partner Social Democratic Party, which is demanding that Futenma be relocated outside Okinawa, and the U.S., which is pressing Japan to abide by a 2006 agreement to move Futenma’s heliport functions to Nago in northern Okinawa by 2014.
On Wednesday, the prime minister told reporters that he intends to come up with a new proposal soon for discussions with Washington but admitted it may not necessarily resolve the relocation issue.
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