ID :
147191
Sun, 10/24/2010 - 05:56
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/147191
The shortlink copeid
Japan, U.S. poised to keep Tokyo`s base-hosting costs at current size+
TOKYO, Oct. 23 Kyodo -
Japan and the United States are poised to agree on keeping Tokyo's spending for
U.S. military bases in Japan in fiscal 2011 and later at its current level,
after Washington rejected Tokyo's request for sharply cutting it, diplomatic
sources said Saturday.
The two countries are trying to strike a deal on a new bilateral accord to give
legal backing to the Japanese government paying for utility costs of the U.S.
bases and salaries of Japanese employees working there ahead of U.S. President
Barack Obama's visit to Japan next month, as the current such pact will expire
next March.
Japan began making outlays for the U.S. forces in the country in fiscal 1978,
when then Defense Agency chief Shin Kanemaru said the spending would be part of
Japan's ''sympathy'' for them. For fiscal 2010, a total of 188.1 billion yen
has been earmarked for such expenses, the bulk of which, at 114.0 billion yen,
are salaries and other payments for some 23,000 workers at the bases.
The expenses, officially known as host-nation support, began decreasing in
fiscal 2000 and the Japanese government sought to further trim them due to the
country's strained fiscal conditions, only to meet strong opposition from
Washington, the sources said.
A government source said that Japan's policy flip-flops on the relocation of a
key U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture under former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
might have led the United States to adopt a stern posture on the expenditure
issue.
When Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa held talks with his U.S.
counterpart Robert Gates in Hanoi on Oct. 11, they basically agreed to maintain
the Japanese base-hosting costs at their current size, the sources said.
Behind the agreement was the mutual understanding that the role of the U.S.
forces in Japan is expanding amid China's military buildup and North Korea's
missile development, and that Japan should make a reasonable contribution, a
senior Japanese Defense Ministry official said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku also told a press conference Wednesday,
''I believe that with the changing circumstances in security, the importance of
host-nation support at this point is growing,'' suggesting that Japan is
unlikely to drastically cut expenses for the U.S. bases.
The sources said that a new bilateral accord on Japan's host-nation support
will likely cover a five-year period.
==Kyodo
Japan and the United States are poised to agree on keeping Tokyo's spending for
U.S. military bases in Japan in fiscal 2011 and later at its current level,
after Washington rejected Tokyo's request for sharply cutting it, diplomatic
sources said Saturday.
The two countries are trying to strike a deal on a new bilateral accord to give
legal backing to the Japanese government paying for utility costs of the U.S.
bases and salaries of Japanese employees working there ahead of U.S. President
Barack Obama's visit to Japan next month, as the current such pact will expire
next March.
Japan began making outlays for the U.S. forces in the country in fiscal 1978,
when then Defense Agency chief Shin Kanemaru said the spending would be part of
Japan's ''sympathy'' for them. For fiscal 2010, a total of 188.1 billion yen
has been earmarked for such expenses, the bulk of which, at 114.0 billion yen,
are salaries and other payments for some 23,000 workers at the bases.
The expenses, officially known as host-nation support, began decreasing in
fiscal 2000 and the Japanese government sought to further trim them due to the
country's strained fiscal conditions, only to meet strong opposition from
Washington, the sources said.
A government source said that Japan's policy flip-flops on the relocation of a
key U.S. base in Okinawa Prefecture under former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama
might have led the United States to adopt a stern posture on the expenditure
issue.
When Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa held talks with his U.S.
counterpart Robert Gates in Hanoi on Oct. 11, they basically agreed to maintain
the Japanese base-hosting costs at their current size, the sources said.
Behind the agreement was the mutual understanding that the role of the U.S.
forces in Japan is expanding amid China's military buildup and North Korea's
missile development, and that Japan should make a reasonable contribution, a
senior Japanese Defense Ministry official said.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku also told a press conference Wednesday,
''I believe that with the changing circumstances in security, the importance of
host-nation support at this point is growing,'' suggesting that Japan is
unlikely to drastically cut expenses for the U.S. bases.
The sources said that a new bilateral accord on Japan's host-nation support
will likely cover a five-year period.
==Kyodo
