The US and Japan announced on Monday new guidelines for bilateral defense cooperation, allowing Japan's self defense forces to take on a more ambitious global role that the Shinzo Abe administration has been seeking.
Under the new guidelines, revised for the first time since 1997, Japan will have the right to exercise collective self-defense and be able to defend other countries that may come under attack, said the US Defense Department in a news release. It also allows for increased regional and global cooperation in the US-Japanese alliance.
A joint statement of the New Guidelines for US-Japan Defense Cooperation was released after the US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers met in New York City Monday morning.
The US welcomes and supports the ongoing efforts to develop the legislation, which is to reflect Japan's policy of Proactive Contributions to Peace and its July 2014 cabinet decision, the statement said.
Read the full story at Want China Times