US, Japan to revise alliance amid tensions with China

Speaking to media after meeting high-level US officials in Washington, Senior Vice Defense Minister Nagashima Akihisa said the two countries had "agreed to deepen Japan-US strategic consultations.”

He added that Tokyo and Washington were oriented "in the same direction" on Japan’s proposal to revise guidelines on defense cooperation with the United States.

Japan's Defense Minister Satoshi Morimoto said in Tokyo on Friday that Japan had been proposing to Washington that talks on the guidelines be launched this year.

"The present guidelines were produced when the Korean peninsula was in a tense situation," he told a news conference.

"But the East Asian situation is not limited to the Korean peninsula and there is also the issue of China going to the ocean," Morimoto said.

"We want to start the process of reviewing the state of the Japan-US alliance once again by taking into consideration the qualitative changes in security risks," the Japanese defense minister pointed out.

"After 15 years, there are risks concerning terrorism, outer space, cyberspace, maritime stability and territorial issues." Morimoto stated.

Washington recently deployed 12 MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft to the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Ginowan, Okinawa Prefecture.

Chinese ships have been sailing in waters near disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu islands, stoking fears of a maritime clash as Japanese coastguard patrol ships chase away Chinese flotillas.