My latest story for Asia Times Online (Gates changes stripes on Okinawa)

Gates changes stripes on Okinawa

In sharp contrast to just over a year ago, United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates has struck a conciliatory tone over the future of the US Marine base on Okinawa, bowing to the interests of the islanders. With an increasingly hawkish military in China gaining the upper hand, the about-turn could signal the US doesn't want to crack an important alliance over a single issue.
- Kosuke Takahashi (Jan 14, '11)

I attended a joint press conference of  US Defense Secretary Robert and Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa yesterday and Gates' lecture at Keio University today.

I'd like ATol readers to read the last two paragraphs of my latest story.

Maybe China and the rest of the world can draw a judicious lesson from pre-World War II Japan. Then Japanese leaders were very confident in the early 1930s, as the nation pulled out of the Great Depression faster than other developed nations. This confidence gave the hawkish military leaders some room to take a hard line against other nations. They tended to refuse to make a concerted move with the international community. Then, the country gradually lost any leader who could exert control over the military.


After the fall of Lehman Brothers, the Chinese economy recovered much earlier than other nations, giving confidence to Chinese leaders including the military. The world might want to promote awareness about prevention of China's aggressive and unilateral actions, especially on maritime security.

Thanks and regards,
Kosuke


Gates changes stripes on Okinawa
By Kosuke Takahashi

TOKYO - In sharp contrast to his previous high-handed approach to the thorny issue of the relocation of a United States military base on Okinawa, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates made conciliatory gestures to the Japanese government and Okinawans.

Gates said on Thursday during his visit to Japan that the US administration would defer to Tokyo in solving the long-standing dispute of moving the US Marine Corps Air Station Futenma out of a densely populated area in Okinawa prefecture and consider the perceptions of the local public, who want the American forces out.

"We do understand that it is politically a complex matter in Japan," Gates said in a joint press conference with Toshimi Kitazawa, his Japanese counterpart . "And we intend to follow the lead of the Japanese government in working with the people of Okinawa to take their interests and their concerns into account, and that obviously needs to happen."

What a difference a year makes. During his last visit to Tokyo in October 2009, one month after Yukio Hatoyama's center-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) took the reins of government, Gates had demanded that the transfer of around 8,000 Okinawa-based Marines to the US Pacific territory of Guam would not occur unless the heliport functions of the Futenma facility were moved by 2014 to a coastal area of the marines' Camp Schwab in Nago City, northern Okinawa - as agreed in a 2006 bilateral pact for the realignment of US forces in Japan. At the time, the Japanese media denounced him as intimidating.

Hatoyama reneged on an election promise to enter negotiations with the US to move the American bases off Okinawa, and was forced to quit in June 2010.

"While issues associated with Okinawa and Futenma have tended to dominate the headlines this past year, the US-Japan defense alliance is broader, deeper and indeed richer than any single issue," Gates said on Thursday.

Japanese military analyst Toshiyuki Shikata echoed Gates' statement. "Yes, Futenma is just a one-of-them issue in the Japan-US alliance," Shikata, a professor of International Affairs at Teikyo University, told Asia Times Online. "The US knows Japan's DPJ-led administration won't be able to solve the Futenma issue any time soon, so the US does not want to make this single issue crack the bilateral alliance as a whole."

"With the Futenma base never moved out, Okinawa people will suffer most," Shikata added. "For them, it's a danger of continuing the status quo."

Training of F-15 fighters at Kadena
Still, to make the US presence less visible on Okinawa and to ease the burden on Okinawa to some extent, the two nations this time "agreed to step up the efforts to finalize" the relocation of part of aviation drills of F-15 fighters at the US Kadena Air Base in Okinawa to Guam, Kitazawa said. Despite the two defense chiefs' measured comments, Japanese media reported the two nations had already largely agreed on this issue.

Kitazawa also said the Japanese government would decide by the end of this year whether to allow sales of the US/Japanese-developed Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA anti-ballistic missile system to other nations.

"With regard to third-party sales, I also stated that it's necessary to consider the introduction of mechanisms for consultations regarding the necessity for prior consent," Japan's defense chief said.

Mindful of the constitutional commitment to peace which has long enjoyed widespread public support in Japan, previous governments have limited arms exports in accordance with the so-called "Three Principles", which prohibit arms deals with the communist bloc, countries subject to United Nations sanctions and those involved in international conflicts.

But Kitazawa said, "As you're aware, the previous administration with regard to transition to production and deployment, that will be treated as an exception to the three principles on arms exports. The question is how to transfer that - the system - to third parties."

Gates, meanwhile, underscored the benefit of providing the joint US-Japan sea-based missile shield system to other countries, by saying, "I think it's fair to say that the minister acknowledged the economic benefit of being able to make it available."

The defense chiefs' meeting was held amid high tensions, triggered by North Korea's continued menace and China's bold move to test-fly its new Stealth fighter during Gates' visit to Beijing. He headed for Seoul on Friday.

"If there is a common theme in my visits, it is the common interest of the United States, Japan, the Republic of Korea and China for there to be stability and peace on the Korean Peninsula," he said. "This requires that the North cease its belligerent behavior and its provocations that have killed innocent victims, both military and civilian, in Korea."

Who controls the Chinese military?
Gates also stressed his visit to Beijing as successful by saying he had "constructive talks" with Chinese leaders, while maintaining a sense of vigilance against China's growing naval power.

"I believe there is the opportunity for further cooperation between the Chinese and US militaries going forward in the context of a much larger positive relationship between the United States and China," he said.

"At the same time, I explained that the United States will sustain its military presence in Northeast Asia and look to enhance it in Southeast Asia and will firmly defend the principle of freedom of navigation."

Gates saw China's recent test flight of a Stealth fighter illustrated a "disconnect" between its military and civilian leaders. He called the lack of communication between them "a worry", but he was cautions enough to add that China maintained civilian control of the military.

"I believe we've seen instances where specific events took place where the Chinese civilian leadership might not have known about them in advance," Gates said at Keio University in Tokyo on Friday before heading for Seoul.

"In the larger sense of who controls the Chinese military and who has the ultimate authority, there is no doubt in my mind that it is President Hu Jintao and the civilian leadership of that government," he said.

But most of Japanese security analysts such as Shikata, as well as Tokyo's experts on China, believe Hu is already losing his grip of the People's Liberation Army, especially when he begins to become a lame duck leader. In 2012, Hu is widely expected to hand over control of the country to Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping.

"Xi is famous as a defense bureaucrat," Shikata said. "To kick out political foes, he has used the military support. He is an advocate for the military. Behind the curtain is a former president, Jiang Zemin, who backs up Xi."

Maybe China and the rest of the world can draw a judicious lesson from pre-World War II Japan. Then Japanese leaders were very confident in the early 1930s, as the nation pulled out of the Great Depression faster than other developed nations. This confidence gave the hawkish military leaders some room to take a hard line against other nations. They tended to refuse to make a concerted move with the international community. Then, the country gradually lost any leader who could exert control over the military.


After the fall of Lehman Brothers, the Chinese economy recovered much earlier than other nations, giving confidence to Chinese leaders including the military. The world might want to promote awareness about prevention of China's aggressive and unilateral actions, especially on maritime security.

Kosuke Takahashi is a Tokyo-based journalist.

(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

My latest story for Asia Times Online (Testing times for Japan-South Korea ties)

Here is my latest story for Asia Times Online. I am sure that 2011 will mark a new stage in Japan-South Korea relations. Cheers, Kosuke

Testing times for Japan-South Korea ties


By Kosuke Takahashi

TOKYO - Spooked by the continued menace of North Korea and the territorial belligerence of China, Japan and South Korea are planning to sign pacts on supply exchanges and security intelligence - their first-ever military agreements.

Japanese Defense Minister Toshimi Kitazawa, who landed in Seoul on Monday, has agreed with his new counterpart Kim Kwan-jin to start talks on two separate agreements. While one will facilitate exchanges of military goods and services, the other will boost shared intelligence on North Korea's nuclear weapons, missiles and weapons of mass destruction.

Kitazawa's trip to South Korea is the first in six years for a Japanese defense minister. The visit reflects a warming of relations between the two nations, as shown by each other's participation in joint military exercises with the United States last year, with Japan taking part as an observer.

Kitazawa's proposal to Seoul is in line with Japan's long-term strategy. Japan’s defense policy for the next decade, approved by the cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan last month, calls for closer cooperation on defense with countries such as South Korea, Australia, Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries and India. The plan is to forge multi-layered security cooperation with the international community, a move apparently aimed at countering China's growing power and the North Korean threat.

The Japanese defense minister has proposed two separate agreements. The first is the Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which other countries refer to as the Military Logistics Supporting Agreement (MLSA). For constitutional reasons, Japan avoids using the word "military".

This agreement concerns exchanges of military goods and services such as food, water, fuel and transportation during international peacetime cooperative operations such as peacekeeping and disaster rescue efforts.

South Korea has MLSA agreements with eight nations, such as the US, Turkey, Thailand and the Philippines. Reportedly, it plans to expand the number to 15 by 2012. Japan concluded ACSAs with the US in 1996 and Australia in 2010.

The second agreement on the table is the General Security of Military Information Agreement (GSOMIA), which facilitates shared intelligence on North Korea's nuclear weapons, missiles and weapons of mass destruction.

Japan currently operates three spy satellites that monitor North Korea's military facilities. If the accord is reached, Seoul may benefit from these. Once a fourth satellite goes into orbit in the coming year, Japan will be able to monitor the entire Korean Peninsula at least once every 24 hours.

If signed, the pacts could open a new chapter in Japan’s relations with its former colony - Tokyo ruled the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945.

Media in each country has taken note of the improving relations. South Korea’s Maeil Business Newspaper reported earlier this year that Japan's foreign minister, Seiji Maehara, has proposed that the two nations forge a "security alliance".

The Korea Times has reported that South Korea plans to sign at least one of the military agreements by the end of this year, citing an anonymous senior official at the Ministry of National Defense. Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper also reported the two countries were preparing a new Japan-Republic of Korea Joint Declaration, with the aim of signing it when President Lee Myung-bak visits Japan as a state guest in the first half of this year.

The two nations signed a similar declaration in 1998 expressing their shared determination to build a new partnership. But it omitted any mention of possible future military cooperation, an issue that was taboo topics in both countries at the time.

The US behind the curtain
As is often the case with regional affairs in North East Asia, behind the curtain of the recent developments between Japan and South Korea is the United States.

In December, Navy Admiral Mike Mullen, the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stressed the significance of trilateral cooperation between the US, Japan and South Korea at a press conference in Tokyo, saying he sees a "real sense of urgency" in light of rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Mullen was visiting Japan for the first time since North Korea's shelling of a South Korean island on November 23, which killed two troops and two civilians.

He also noted the importance of the three countries taking part in joint military drills."I would like to see all of us do as much as we can regionally and certainly exercising together is a big part of that." He also appealed for a more active role from Tokyo at a crucial time when "steps must be taken to ensure" that war-mongering from North Korea is stopped.

"Although there are separate security alliances between the US and Japan, and the US and South Korea, there is no alliance between Japan and South Korea," Japanese military analyst Toshiyuki Shikata told Asia Times Online. "In a sense, Japan and South Korea indirectly cooperate with each other via the US currently. If the two nations directly work together, this would reduce the US burden. That's pretty good news for the US."

While the two governments, especially their defense officials, are willing to strengthen military ties, ethnic nationalist sentiment on the South Korean side is a key factor.

Among older Koreans, the memories of Japan's colonization are still raw, and territorial disputes over a group of islands - called Tokdo by Koreans and Takeshima by Japanese - are still simmering.

Seoul has been concerned over a resurgence of Japanese military power since the end of World War II, and now is no different. South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo said in its January 5 editorial, "Many people also worry that Japan is seeking to use the tension on the peninsula stemming from the North's sinking of the Cheonan warship and its bombardment of Yeonpyeong Island as an opportunity to bolster its military power in the region."

Japan has taken note of the nationalism issue, with Foreign Minister Maehara saying on January 4 said Tokyo will need to be “sensitive” when improving security ties with South Korea.

China in a corner?
South Korea is also mindful that military cooperation with Japan could impact negatively on bilateral relations with China, Seoul's largest trading partner. Closer military ties between Tokyo and Seoul could force an already unhappy China into a corner, with Beijing further strengthening ties with North Korea as a result. China last year repeatedly voiced concern over a US-South Korea military drill, and the Japanese Self-Defense Forces took part in July for the first time as an observer.

South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo's editorial said more solid Japan-South Korea military ties could "stimulate China to pursue a foreign policy that leads to a Cold War-like atmosphere of confrontation in Northeast Asia".

Kosuke Takahashi is a Tokyo-based journalist.

(Copyright 2011 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

Merry Xmas!

(Yonhap) N. Korea's latest IRBM believed to be able to carry nuclear warhead: expert

N. Korea's latest IRBM believed to be able to carry nuclear warhead: expert


SEOUL, Dec. 23 (Yonhap) -- North Korea's latest intermediate-range ballistic missile, which appeared in Pyongyang's military parade in October, is believed to be capable of delivering a nuclear weapon, a South Korean researcher said Thursday.

Han Sang-soon, a senior researcher at the Defense Agency for Technology and Quality, said in a report made public Thursday that the missile, known as the BM-25 Musudan, is estimated to be able to carry a payload weighing between 1-1.2 tons and that its "circular error probability," an accuracy indicator, is believed to be 1.6 kilometers.

"This means that it can carry a nuclear warhead," he said in the report.

North Korea completed development of the Musudan in 2005 based on the design of the former Soviet Union's R-27 (SS-N-6) short-range missile. The Musudan has a range of between 3,000-4,000 kilometers, and about 50 missiles of the type were deployed in the North as of last year.

In October, the North showed off Musudan missiles during a massive military parade held in Pyongyang to mark the 65th anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party.

North Korea's missile program has long been a security concern in the region, along with its nuclear programs. The country's Taepodong-2 long-range ballistic missile is believed to be capable of reaching as far as Alaska, according to defense experts.

Experts also believe that the North has some 700 Scud short-range missiles and about 200 Rodong medium-range missiles.

(END)

My latest story for Asia Times Online (Japan gets tough with new defense policy)

Japan gets tough with new defense policy

Japan has announced plans to adopt a new, more aggressive defense posture over the next 10 years. The policy shift comes amid rising regional tensions, triggered by Sino-Japanese territorial disputes, the sinking of a South Korean warship in March and North Korea's bombardment of a South Korean island last month. - Kosuke Takahashi (Dec 20, '10)

Japan gets tough with new defense policy
By Kosuke Takahashi

TOKYO - Faced with increasingly territorial belligerence from China and warmongering from North Korea, Japan has decided to adopt a new defense policy that aims to bolster more proactive, flexible and quick responses in the sea, land and air during the next decade - a big departure from a previous passive and pacifist defense posture.

The Japanese government on December 17 announced the new defense policy, officially called the National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), that will define the country's basic security policy for the next 10 years. The guidelines have drawn close attention from the international community, as they are the first defense policy that the center-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) has formulated since ousting the pro-US Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last year.

This posture has also captured public attention because it was mapped out amid rising regional tensions, triggered by territorial disputes between China and Japan, the sinking of a South Korean warship in March and North Korea's bombardment of a South Korean island in November.

The new policy includes a proactive concept called the "Dynamic Defense Force" that aims to "increase the credibility of Japan's deterrent capability by promoting timely and active operations." This supersedes the previous, passive "Basic Defense Force Concept", built around the idea of "static deterrence". The guidelines see military modernization by China and its insufficient transparency as a "concern for the regional and global community." They also point to North Korea's nuclear and missile development programs as "immediate and grave destabilizing factors for regional security."

"For Japan, North Korea is an immediate threat," said Hideshi Takesada, professor and executive director at the National Institute for Defense Studies in Tokyo. "Meanwhile, China is Japan's medium to long-term concern, as it is boosting its submarine forces and anti-satellite weapons programs. China also has outer-space capacity to attack a US carrier by using a GPS (Global Positioning System)."

Departure from the Cold War-era posture
The new defense policy calls for a reorganization of Japanese troops. While reducing Cold War-era equipment and organizations, especially Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) personnel in Hokkaido prefecture, the northernmost part of Japan facing Russia, it stresses the necessity to boost security around the Nansei Islands in Okinawa prefecture in the country's south, and in the East China Sea near China and Taiwan, a move that is apparently aimed at countering China's growing naval power. The JGSDF will also deploy coastal monitoring troops in some of the Nansei Islands, the nation's remotest area.

The quota for JGSDF personnel was reduced to 154,000 in 10 years from the current 155,000, the new NDPG showed.

As part of Japan's efforts to step up vigilance in the sea around Japan, The Japanese Ministry of Defense (MoD) decided to increase the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) submarine fleet to 22 from the current 16 by extending the working life of existing submarines. It will also increase the number of its Aegis-equipped destroyers, which carry the US/Japanese-developed Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) anti-ballistic-missile system, to six from the current four. Specifically, a ministry official said it would upgrade JDS Atago (DDG-177) and JS Ashigara (DDG-178).

As for air defense, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) Naha Base in Okinawa will add one more JASDF Tactical Fighter Squadron for a total of two. The JASDF will also boost its deployment of Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles to six air-defense groups across Japan from the current three, to counter the threat of North Korean and Chinese ballistic missiles, and enhance the performance of Aegis destroyers.

The national defense budget for the next five years will be around 23.49 trillion yen (US$279 billion), down by 750 billion yen from fiscal 2005-2009 due to Japan’s increasing budget deficit.

The new NDPG also calls for Japan to strengthen its defense cooperation with those countries with which it shares democratic values, like South Korea, Australia and India, in addition to its key ally, the United States, with whom it will also work to counter cyber attacks.

The defense guidelines said Japan "will study measures to follow the international trend of defense equipment," but did not clearly mention a review of Japan's longstanding arms-export ban due to protests by opposition lawmakers, whose support the government and ruling bloc cannot afford to lose as it seeks to pass key bills for fiscal 2011. But the door is still open for a possible future lifting of the export ban, a politically sensitive issue given Tokyo's pacifist constitution.

The guidelines also detailed a plan to create a Japanese version of the US National Security Council, aimed at dealing more effectively with diplomatic and security policies, without any sectionalism among related ministries.

China's response
Beijing has accused Tokyo of making irresponsible remarks in its new defense guidelines targeting China.

"The fact is that China's development since the reform and opening up has brought great opportunities for common prosperity to other countries in the world, including Japan," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said on December 17. "This is widely recognized and the international community will have a fair opinion on this. A certain individual country has no right to represent the international community and make irresponsible remarks on China's development."

Singaporean Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said that Japanese naval power was stronger than China’s, but he saw the tide reversed in 10 years.
"Normally you [Japan] have better ships than they have. But they will build an aircraft carrier. So in 10 years they will have a bigger fleet than you, so you have to factor that into your calculations. These are the realities of power," he told the Strait Times in late September.

Kosuke Takahashi is a Tokyo-based correspondent.

(Copyright 2010 Asia Times Online (Holdings) Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact us about sales, syndication and republishing.)

My latest stories for Jane's Defence Weekly

Here are my latest stories for Jane's Defence Weekly. I wrote about Japan's new defense policy and Japan's 'sympathy budget' towards the US, or the nation's financial support for the US troops based in the nation.

Japan to adopt a proactive defence policy

Kosuke Takahashi
JDW Correspondent
Tokyo

 

Additional reporting by Jon Grevatt
Asia-Pacific Reporter
Bangkok

 

Key Points

• Japan has published a defence guideline that repositions its forces to counter emerging Chinese activities in the East China Sea
• Naval forces are being strengthened, but the ban on defence exports remains

 

Japan's defence policy during the next decade will be based on a doctrine of proactive, flexible and quick responses to threats facing the country in what is a major departure from its previous policy of "static deterrence".

 

The National Defence Programme Guidelines (NDPG) released on 17 December show a Japan concerned over China's emergence as a global and regional superpower and North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes. The policy guideline, which will define the country's basic security policy for the next 10 years, is the first formulated by the centre-left Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) government since it replaced the pro-US Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) last year.

 

The guideline includes a new concept called "Dynamic Defence Force" that supercedes the passive "Basic Defence Force Concept" and aims to "increase the credibility of Japan's deterrent capability by promoting timely and active operations". The publication of the guideline was accompanied by the approval of a mid-term defence programme by the Cabinet of Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

 

China's military modernisation and its lack of transparency are called a "concern for the regional and global community", while North Korea's nuclear and missile development programmes are "immediate and grave destabilising factors to the regional security".

 

Cold War-era equipment, organisations and forces structures will be reorganised. The number of Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) personnel in Hokkaido, which faces Russia, will be reduced - taking the total number of JGSDF personnel to 154,000 from the current 155,000, and coastal monitoring troops will be deployed to some of the Nansei Islands in the East China Sea to counter China's growing naval power.

 

The Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force (JMSDF) submarine fleet will increase to 22 from the current 16 by extending the working life of existing submarines. The number of Aegis-equipped destroyers, which carry the US/Japanese-developed Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) Block IIA anti-ballistic missile system, will increase to six from the current four. Specially, the Ministry of Defence said it will upgrade JDS Atago (DDG-177) and JS A shigara (DDG-178).

 

The Japan Air Self-Defence Force (JASDF) will increase the number of tactical fighter squadrons based at Naha Base in Okinawa to two from the current one. The JASDF will also deploy Patriot Advanced Capability-3 interceptor missiles to six air defence missile groups from the current three to counter the threat of North Korea's and China's ballistic missiles.

 

The NDPG made no specific reference to the Three Principles policy banning defence exports after opposition parties indicated that they would block the government's budget bill were it to push ahead with lifting the longstanding policy.

 

Instead, the NDPG says "measures" should be considered in the "global environment" where joint programmes to develop military equipment have become the norm. The NDPG highlights the benefits of increased co-operation in military development programmes as necessary to respond to rising costs. It adds that Japan should discuss such "major changes" to strategies in order to enhance local industry.

 

An official from Nippon Keidanren - the Japan Business Federation - told Jane's that, despite the fall in defence expenditure and the retention of the Three Principles policy, the NDPG was good news for Japan's defence industry, which has shrunk considerably during the past five years as companies seek alternative streams of revenue.

 

Satoshi Mukuta, a director of international affairs at Nippon Keidanren and secretary general of the organisation's defence production committee, said: "The NDPG said nothing about the Three Principles, but, on the other hand, the government stated that they will try to make it possible for the Japanese defence industry to join international development and production programmes."

 

He added: "The defence budget [outlined in the policy] will only be very slightly less than in recent years, so we can say that overall the policy is progress. The government is trying to ease Japanese industry's participation into international programmes to improve our industrial and technological base. This means that the new NDPG is an important step forward."

 

Copyright © IHS Global Limited, 2010

 

Japan and US agree to maintain current cost of 'sympathy budget'

Kosuke Takahashi
JDW Correspondent
Tokyo

Japan and the US have agreed that Japan's financial support for the US troops based in the country will stay at current levels for the next five years from Fiscal Year 2011 (FY11) starting in April.

Under the five-year agreement between the two countries, Japan will earmark the existing annual amount of JPY188.1 billion (USD2.3 billion) for five years from FY11, the Japanese Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced on 14 December.

Measures were made to reduce the burden on Japan. The number of local support staff, whose work on US bases includes entertainment facilities such as bars and golf courses and whose personnel costs are covered by the Japanese government, will be cut by 430 to 22,625. The share of Japan's contribution towards US utility bills is also to be reduced from 76 per cent to 72 per cent.

The US had requested more money, claiming that its presence had proven to be a stabilising influence in the region and that the bilateral alliance was increasingly significant in view of recent strategic and military moves by North Korea and China.

With government debt approaching nearly 200 per cent of GDP, Japan has sought to reduce the cost of supporting US troops since the "sympathy budget", as it is known in Tokyo, peaked in FY99 at JPY275.6 billion.

US Forces Japan comprises 36,000 personnel from all three branches of the military, 43,000 dependents and 5,000 Department of Defense civilian employees across 85 facilities.

Copyright © IHS Global Limited, 2010

My latest stories for Jane's Defence Weekly

Here are my latest stories for Jane's Defence Weekly.

If you get time, please go over the followings.

Thanks and regards,

Kosuke

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Japan opts for UH-60J SAR upgrade

Japan's ruling party adds voice to lifting arms export ban

Security concerns top of Clinton, Maehara meeting agenda

Japan to boost submarine fleet in response to China moves

Japanese White Paper highlights concerns over China's maritime activities