The unresolved issue of where to relocate U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma is threatening to further strain Japan-U.S. ties as Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama puts off making a decision, critics said Wednesday.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>Tsuneo Watanabe, a senior fellow at the Tokyo Foundation think tank, warned that even Hatoyama's administration could be at risk if he puts the wrong foot forward on the matter.</PARAGRAPH> <PARAGRAPH>'Hatoyama is not only going to lose the trusting relationship with the U.S. but also the world and the Japanese people,' Watanabe said. 'Hatoyama keeps going back and forth with no intention of making a decision. If he doesn't deal with –

properly, the Hatoyama administration may not be able to survive, in addition to seriously straining Japan-U.S. relations."

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.

Meanwhile, Watanabe said President Barack Obama is coping with bigger problems, such as gaining support for his decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, and that he wouldn't be able to negotiate on Futenma with Hatoyama.