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US-Japan pledge to renew alliance

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-11-13 20:33

Hatoyama said that his government had decided to do so after long deliberations.

"In connection with terrorism, Japan should focus on humanitarian aid and helping to develop the country from a nonmilitary perspective," he said.

The two leaders emphasized their unity on hoping for a nonnuclear future, though Obama stated that the United States would maintain nuclear weapons for the foreseeable future.

"We share a vision of a world without nuclear weapons but we realise it will take time. We realise it may not happen in our lifetimes. We will continue to hold our deterrent for ourselves and our allies," Obama said.

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He said, however, that he understood that the issue of nuclear weapons was particularly emotive for Japan given that Hiroshima and Nagasaki had both suffered nuclear attacks, and that he hoped to visit those cities in the future.

"It would be meaningful to visit (those cities) in the future," he said, though he pointed out that he had no plans to head to them in the near future.

The United States offers protection to Japan with nuclear weapons based on an agreement signed between the two nations in the 1960s, which led to widespread protests throughout the Asian nation.

On the environment, the two leaders restated their pledge to see harmful emissions 80 percent lower than they were in 1990 by 2050.

"In the area of climate change, I have set out the goal of an 80 percent reduction and the US agrees with this. We have agreed to cooperate toward this end," Hatoyama said.

The two also agreed to cooperate on the issue of nuclear proliferation in both the Democratic Republic of North Korea (DPRK) and Iran.

Obama said that if Iran and the DPRK refuse to give up their nuclear weapons development, Japan and the United States would continue to work together to pressure the two nations.

"We will continue to implement the sanctions that have been put in place and will continue to work with our partners to make sure that our goals are met," the president said.

Next year marks the 50th anniversary of the alliance between Japan and the United States and the two leaders were careful to emphasize the benefits of the relationship.

The two said that over the next few days, they will speak extensively on the economy, a subject that was not discussed in the meeting between the two on Friday evening.

Obama arrived in Tokyo earlier in the day for a two-day visit to Japan. He is scheduled to deliver a speech on US policy toward Asia and meet with Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko on Saturday.

Japan is the first leg of the US president's four-country Asian tour, which will also take him to Singapore, China and South Korea.

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