US and Japan agree to extend troops deal, Blinken concerned by China’s conduct in disputed waters
- The current agreement will be extended for one year, obliging Japan to pay roughly US$1.9 billion to host US troops
- US secretary of state also reaffirmed that the disputed Diaoyu Islands Islands, which China calls Diaoyus, are covered by security treaty
Under the agreement, Japan will shoulder roughly 200 billion yen (US$1.9 billion), about the same as last year, for the so-called host nation support, they said. The current five-year deal will expire next month. Talks for cost-sharing beyond the one-year extension will resume in April.
Tokyo shoulders part of the cost of stationing around 55,000 US military personnel in Japan, including their utility, labour and training expenses, under a bilateral security treaty.
Working-level talks on a fresh agreement began in November under former US president Donald Trump, who had criticised the alliance as one-sided. Trump had pressured Tokyo to vastly increase its burden, but the talks were put on hold until Biden’s administration was inaugurated in January.
During a phone call with Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi, Blinked on Wednesday “expressed concern over increased Chinese assertiveness around the Diaoyu Islands Islands following China’s enactment of a new coastguard law”, State Department spokesman Ned Price said.
