Japan assured the United States on March 13 that it will do its utmost to submit legislation regarding new guidelines for bilateral defense cooperation to the current Diet session.
Senior foreign and defense officials from the two governments also reaffirmed that neither Japan nor the U.S. will consider any alternative site for a planned sea-based heliport for the U.S. military facility in Nago, Okinawa Prefecture.
The heliport project has been stalled due to local opposition. "We agreed that the sea-based plan is the only option," said a senior Foreign Ministry official following the two-hour meetings of the mini-Security Consultative Committee and deputy Subcommittee for Defense Cooperation.