WASHINGTON, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) -- The U.S.-Japan alliance would be strengthened following Japan's political transition despite increased tensions over the Futenma air bas relocation, a senior U.S. expert said Monday.
"The alliance will continue to be strong so long as it is effective," Sheila A. Smith, a senior fellow for Japan studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, told Xinhua in an interview.
She said the U.S.-Japan alliance's importance rested with its role in regional and global efforts to cope with challenges to the two countries' security and the stability of Northeast Asia and beyond.
"If we cannot find ways of working together that produce these outcomes, the security commitments embodied in our bilateral treaty will become less and less relevant," Smith said.
The expert said, with Japan going through a political transition in the wake of a new government led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ), the U.S. would develop better "alliance management capabilities" with the country.
"Likewise, Japan's political leaders will become more familiar with the broad policy agenda associated with the security relationship with the United States," Smith said.
She voiced her confidence in the two countries' ability to reaffirm their common interests.
"There have been a number of difficulties -- most are associated with the natural process of getting to know a new government. ... We now need to adapt to the political changes being made to Japan's policy-making process," she said.
Hatoyama, who came to power in September, said he would like to see the United States and Japan have a "more equal" relationship and he viewed reassessing the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) as one means of achieving that.
Japan hosts some 47,000 U.S. military personnel, about half of which are stationed in Okinawa.
According to the SOFA agreement, 8,000 U.S. troops will be relocated from Okinawa Prefecture to Guam and a base in the urban center of Futenma will be moved.
Washington has urged Hatoyama to implement the SOFA and relocate the base.
"The base issue is very critical, and so the decision making on Futenma reached a decisive moment at just the time when this political transition came to Tokyo," said Smith.
"This timing is part of the explanation for some of the difficulties as the new government and Washington have been thrustinto a confrontation over the relocation of Futenma air field in Okinawa," she added.
The issue of Futenma, which has been a key concern in Washington's relationship with Tokyo, is very likely to be discussed during a meeting on Tuesday in Hawaii between U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her Japanese counterpart, Katsuya Okada.
Prior to the meeting, Clinton's assistant, Kurt Campbell, asked Tokyo to renew its commitment on security cooperation with the United States.
Smith said there may be other issues of contention that were yet to emerge.
"The broader challenge for the United States and Japan will be to develop a common vision for the future of their alliance," she said.
"It is not yet clear whether or not we have adequately addressed the issues of concern raised by the DPJ as it came into power. The U.S. policy makers are unclear of whether the new government shares its sense of the priorities in the region and beyond in terms of the agenda of cooperation."
