The Japanese Minister Travels to the U.S. After a Historic Agreement About Military Bases

• Tweet

• Tweet

Japanese Prime Minister, Yoshihiko Noda, met Monday with President Barack Obama, just after a historic agreement to reduce by half the U.S. military deployment in the archipelago of Okinawa.

On Thursday, holders of U.S. Defense, Leon Panetta, and Japan, Koichiro Gemba, agreed to the output of 9,000 U.S. troops from southern archipelago of Okinawa, which hosts most of the U.S. military presence in Japan since the end of World War II.

This agreement meets the demands of Tokyo, who complained of intense pressure and friction with the civilian population posed by the presence of some 19,000 troops in so small an island territory.

This agreement, which will move thousands of troops to the U.S. islands of Guam, Hawaii and other Pacific bases, is a change in strategy forced the U.S. and its allies in a strategic area.

Noda and Obama speak at their meeting in Washington on security in the Asia Pacific, which, although not stated openly, weighs the growing Chinese military power, especially on maritime borders with neighboring countries.

The two leaders would discuss details of the agreement on Thursday as the possibility of the U.S. Armed Forces and the Self-Defense Forces of Japan sharing military facilities in Guam or Northern Mariana Islands between.

By constitutional mandate Self-Defense Forces of Japan can not have an offensive role.

According to sources in the White House, the official visit Noda also cover topics in which China has found positions with Japan and the U.S., as the democratic process in Burma or North Korea, which tested a rocket launch that Tokyo and Washington consider as a long-range missile.

Washington has stressed that relations with Tokyo are better than ever and that both countries have common positions on international issues, such as measures to pressure Iran to end its nuclear program or the process of transition in Afghanistan.

In Obama’s economic agenda and Noda is the way forward with the Trans Economic Partnership (TPP), which aim to eliminate tariff barriers to trade between the countries bordering the Pacific.

Although no specific announcements are expected, these talks will seek ways for the countries of the Forum of Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) make the basis for an agreement that will benefit emerging economies in Asia, Latin America and North America.

White House sources indicated that the Obama administration wants to deepen his official visit in the reorientation of U.S. foreign policy towards the Asia Pacific for its strategic and economic importance.

After years embarked on conflicts in the Middle East, United States wants to strengthen its presence in Asia, a region that leads the world economic growth and the rise of China that has changed the balance of power throughout its area of ​​influence the East China Sea.

Tags: Japan, Military Bases, United States

Category: Business News