TOKYO, (PNA/Kyodo) — Japan and the United States agreed Thursday to revise bilateral defense cooperation guidelines by the end of next year, for the first time in 17 years, to better deal with the changing security environment.
At the end of a “two-plus-two” security meeting in Tokyo, foreign and defense chiefs of the two countries also said the transfer of some of the U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa to Guam will begin in the first half of the 2020s as a way to ease Okinawa’s burden of hosting the bulk of U.S. military bases in Japan.
A joint statement said the ministers confirmed they will work to enhance ballistic missile defense capabilities, while urging China to “play a responsible and constructive role in regional stability and prosperity, to adhere to international norms of behavior.”