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Japan's foreign minister will not visit US -govt

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-11-04 10:55

TOKYO: Japan's foreign minister has given up on a plan to visit Washington, the government's top spokesman said -- a trip that was meant to help smooth over a feud about US military bases ahead of US President Barack Obama's visit to Tokyo next week.

Related readings:  Japan minister's trip to US in limbo over base issue  Japan hopes US president will visit A-bomb cities  Japan: No US base decision before Obama visit  Japan-US missile defence faces budget limits

The two governments have been unable to fix a time for Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada to meet US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, because of Okada's busy schedule in parliament, the top government spokesman told reporters on Wednesday.

"We discussed this with the United States, but in the end it turned out to be difficult because of the Japan-side schedule," Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano told reporters.

"The visit to the United States is cancelled."

He denied that there would be any effect on relations between the two allies. Washington and Tokyo disagree over a number of security issues, particularly the location of a US Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa.

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's Democratic Party toppled the long-ruling conservative government in August. Pre-election pledges included a review of ties with the United States, sparking concern among investors about the half-century old alliance.