China News Service, January 14. According to Kyodo News, on the 13th, Japanese Foreign Minister Lin Fangzheng said that the collective infection of the US military stationed in Japan is one of the important reasons for the recent deterioration of the new crown epidemic in Japan.
Data map: Japan under the epidemic.
According to reports, Lin Fangzheng said that the authorities have made a request to the United States, hoping that the United States can prevent the further expansion of the epidemic, and can actively respond to the concerns of nearby residents.
However, in response to the "Japan-U.S. Status Agreement" that grants relaxed privileges to the U.S. military, Lin Fangzheng said that the Japanese side has no plans to reconsider the agreement.
When talking about the future response, he said that the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the defense chief and the relevant personnel of the US military will negotiate through the Japan-US Joint Committee.
In order to prevent the spread of the Omicron strain, Japan will ban most foreigners from entering the country from the end of November 2021.
However, according to the "Japan-US Status Agreement", the US military stationed in Japan enjoys many privileges in Japan, and they can follow another set of relatively loose entry testing and isolation measures, which has become a major loophole in Japan's epidemic prevention chain.
Recently, the epidemic situation in Japan has rebounded rapidly, especially in Okinawa and Yamaguchi prefectures where US military bases are stationed, and neighboring Hiroshima prefecture.