TOKYO, Oct. 18 (UPI) -- The United States and Japan, disputing the relocation of the Marine Corps base in Okinawa, scrapped plans on a new joint security declaration, officials said.
A planned declaration would have marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the revised Japan-U.S. Security Treaty while freshening the bilateral alliance by renewing the 1996 Japan-U.S. Joint Declaration on Security, the Yomiuri Shimbun reported Monday.
While confirming an agreement to abandon the planned declaration, the U.S. and Japanese governments still are considering a statement "of lesser significance" on certain security matters when U.S. President Obama visits Japan next month, sources told the Japanese newspaper.
Leaders of both nations were trying to recast the 1996 joint security declaration into one of increased deterrence by both countries, including defense-related information security, missile defense, space development and disaster prevention, sources told the newspaper. However, the consultations were stymied over the relocation of the U.S. Marine Corps' Futenma Air Station air base's functions in Okinawa.
A decision on where to locate the base has been delayed until after Obama visits, the Yomiuri Shimbun said.
