China News Service, February 24. According to the Kyodo News Agency of Japan, the Japanese and American governments signed on the 24th the "Revised" that extended the current special agreement by one year from the end of 2020 on the issue of the funding burden for the US troops stationed in Japan in 2021. Protocol.
Japan’s burden in fiscal 2021 is 2017 billion yen.
Japan will submit it to the Diet in the near future and strive to be approved by the end of March.
According to reports, Japanese Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi and the US Chargé d'affaires in Japan Joseph Young signed the protocol.
Motegi said at a subsequent press conference, “In order to improve the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-US alliance, we will continue to work closely with the United States.”
According to the report, the special agreement is usually renewed every 5 years, and it is rare to extend it by one year.
Regarding the burden after the 2021 fiscal year, the two countries will discuss again and strive to reach an agreement within the year.
In November 2020, the Japanese and US governments began formal negotiations on the funding of the US military in Japan. The two sides failed to reach an agreement. Later, due to the change of US regime, the Japanese side postponed the negotiations until January 2021 after Biden became president.
After the Biden administration took office, the Japanese side proposed a temporary extension for one year, which was approved by the US side.