Japan and the United States have decided to renew their defence pact which will extend the presence of the US forces on Japanese soil till 2026. The new defence agreement was announced in a virtual four-way meeting between Japanese Foreign and Defence Ministers and the US’s Secretary of State and Secretary of Defence on Thursday.
As per the new five-year agreement, Japan will extend the support package provided or the hosting of around 50,000 US troops and their families. Japan will pay approximately USD 1.8 billion a year to the US for its services. This agreement “"will invest greater resources to deepen our military readiness and interoperability," commented the U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken during the meet. This new extension puts to rest the Trump-era controversy when the ex-President demanded a host of countries such as Japan, South Korea and certain western European States to increase monetary contribution for the maintenance of and services provided by American troops present on their respective soils. This policy had become a major source of stress in diplomatic relations between the US and its traditional allies. The US and South Korea had already resolved the outstanding issue in April last 2021.
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The two sides also signed a new agreement to increase economic, scientific and military cooperation for the research and development of defence technologies, especially to mechanise technology to counter threats from hypersonic missiles. “Our allies must not only strengthen the tools we have but also develop new ones,” Blinken further noted.
This agreement assumes importance in the view of the threats faced by Japan from an aggressive China and a belligerent North Korea. North Korea had recently announced that it had tested hypersonic missile which can be a potentially significant addition to its defence capabilities and presents a national security threat to Japan and the U.S. China had also tested its Hypersonic missile in August last year. Hypersonic missile system is the latest cutting edge defence technology and is said to be capable of evading present anti-missile systems such as Russia's S-400 and the US’s THAAD system.
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Japan and the US also reinforced their commitment to rules-based international order including the freedom of navigation in international waters, especially in the context of the Chinese aggressive maritime claims in the South and East China sea. “We’re meeting against a backdrop of increased tensions and challenges to the free, stable and secure Indo-Pacific region”, noted the US Defence Secretary Llyod Austin. Both the countries also condemned Chinese acts of military incursion into the Taiwanese territory as well its coercive claims of Japanese Senkaku Islands (in the East China Sea) as its own. The joint statement after the meeting also condemned the human rights violation of the ethnic Muslim Uyghurs in its Xinjiang province by the Chinese state. China condemned the joint statement and has launched an official diplomatic complaint with both the countries.
Japan also requested the US to strengthen anti-COVID measures in its bases especially in view to COVID clusters formed there which have spilled into the local communities.
