Japan-U.S. alliance cannot be maintained by words 'Trust me'

Japan-U.S. alliance cannot be maintained by words 'Trust me'

Feb 10 10:06 AM US/Eastern

SENDAI, Feb. 11 (AP) - (Kyodo)—A senior Ground Self-Defense Force official said Wednesday that the Japan-U.S. alliance cannot be maintained by words such as "trust me," an apparent criticism of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama who told U.S. President Barack Obama in November to trust him in the dispute over the relocation of a U.S. Marines base in Okinawa Prefecture.

The alliance "cannot be maintained by diplomacy or political rhetoric," GSDF Colonel Takeshi Nakasawa said in an address at the opening ceremony of joint drills by the GSDF and U.S. forces in Japan in Miyagi Prefecture.

"Least of all, it cannot be maintained by the words 'Trust me'," he said.

While his address was considered as referring to Hatoyama's remarks in his meeting with Obama in Tokyo, the GSDF public relations office said, "Col. Nakazawa did not necessarily quote or criticize the premier's comments."