High-level security talks between Japan and the United States held Tuesday in Washington canceled the 2014 deadline to move the contentious Futenma air base in Okinawa and highlighted the main issue that is likely to continue complicating the bilateral relationship.
While the Futenma matter has hit another impasse, analysts say the alliance between Japan and the U.S. will remain strong in the face of regional security challenges, including China's increasing military presence in the area and North Korea's nuclear threat.
On Tuesday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and their counterparts, Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto and Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, emerged from meetings in Washington with a statement saying the Futenma relocation will be completed at the "earliest possible date" after 2014.