TOKYO: US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama have agreed on the need to renew their two countries' strained alliance.

Obama told reporters after talks in Tokyo that their bond was based on shared values and interests but should be renewed for the 21st Century. Hatoyama said the alliance had to adapt to changing times. Obama's first Asian tour as US leader is aimed at reassuring key allies and boosting economic growth. He has called for a growth strategy "that is both balanced and broadly shared". His eight-day tour will take him to Singapore, China and South Korea and includes an Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) summit.

He told Reuters news agency earlier that China was a "partner" as well as rival but warned of "enormous strains" in relations between the world's two most powerful nations if economic imbalances between them were not corrected. Climate change and the North Korean and Iranian nuclear disputes are also likely to be on the agenda for his talks with Asian leaders.

It is widely believed that while Obama will push for increased Chinese co-operation in containing Iran and North Korea, his real challenge will be to allay the concerns of his non-Chinese hosts about the rise of Beijing's power in the region. His message will be that the US is back as a player on the region's diplomatic chess board, our correspondent adds. Hatoyama has promised to end Japan's Indian Ocean refuelling mission that supports US-led forces in Afghanistan. He also promised to review the Okinawa base agreement that Washington thought was settled three years ago. However, correspondents say the issue is likely to be downplayed during their talks.

Hatoyama stressed earlier today that the Japanese-US alliance was a "cornerstone of Japan's diplomacy". "There's no question about the need to maintain that," he added.

Japanese peace activists demonstrated near the US embassy in Tokyo today against plans to move the Okinawa base to another part of the island and also criticised Obama for not taking time to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Obama said he would visit the sites of the atomic bomb attacks on another occasion. Japan has deployed about 16,000 police officers to provide security in Tokyo during the visit, which is expected to see further demonstrations.