U.S., Japan to announce expanded security pact

U.S. officials plan a “major announcement” Monday on expanding defense cooperation with Japan, White Houses aides said Friday.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Secretary of State John F. Kerry will make the announcement in New York with their Japanese counterparts ahead of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s official state visit to the White House on Tuesday.

The two nations are expected to expand the areas of defense cooperation under new guidelines that cover Japan’s outlying islands.

The Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea, which are at the center of a territorial dispute with China, are to be included among Japan’s islands covered for defense.

Mr. Carter reported progress in talks with Japan earlier this month on the new defense cooperation and on the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership, a massive free-trade deal that President Obama is trying to conclude with 11 other nations in the Pacific rim.