Japan Commits $1.2 Billion for U.S. Forces

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Agence France-Presse | January 23, 2006

Japan pledged Monday to provide 1.2 billion dollars annually over the next two years to help the United States station troops here amid fresh controversy over the US military presence.

Local leaders are campaigning against a bilateral deal on the realignment of US forces, pushing for the pullout of more troops.

"The US-Japanese alliance is strong and remains a foundation of Asia's secure peace," said US Deputy Secretary of State Robert Zoellick, who signed the funding agreement with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso.

"We appreciate Japan's support for American forces based in Japan and increasing Japanese involvement in helping to promote peace and democracy around the world, such as in Iraq and Afghanistan," Zoellick said in a statement.

The funding agreement is in line with previous arrangements by Japan, which began sharing the cost of hosting US military forces in 1978.

Japan has already planned an allocation of 237.8 billion yen (1.87 billion dollars) for the fiscal year starting in April 2006, mostly covering the wages of Japanese working on US military bases and utilities.

The agreement announced Monday will be part of the previously announced sum for the US troops, a Defense Agency official said.

A bilateral plan reached last year would pull 7,000 US Marines out of Okinawa, the tiny island chain which hosts more than half of the troops. Local leaders want more to be removed, accusing them of noise and crime.

More than 40,000 US troops are based in Japan under a security alliance forged after World War II when Japan was stripped of its right to maintain a military.

Japan has gradually been shedding some of its absolute pacifism, sending some 600 troops to Iraq on a reconstruction mission.

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