Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and U.S. President Barack Obama vowed Monday to cooperate further to ensure stability in Asia in the face of China's increasing military buildup and its ally's apparent plan to carry out a third nuclear test.
But the two leaders during their hourlong summit at the White House kept bilateral areas of contention in low profile, including the relocation of U.S. Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa and Japan's plan to participate in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade negotiations.
Noda and Obama meanwhile agreed on what the latter called a new vision for the Japan-U.S. alliance that will help shape the Asia-Pacific region "for decades to come," apparently aiming to keep in check China's growing assertiveness in the area's waters.