WASHINGTON – Seeking to deepen their defense cooperation, the United States and Japan will soon sign a new five-year agreement on sharing the cost of the American military presence in Japan, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.
Speaking at the outset of a virtual conference between the US and Japanese foreign and defense ministers, Blinken said Tokyo and Washington also will sign a deal on collaborating more closely in research and development of defense-related technologies, including ways to counter threats from hypersonic weapons.
The agreement on a new formula for sharing the cost of the American military presence in Japan ends a Trump-era dispute that had been a significant irritant in US-Japan relations. Blinken said the new deal will enable greater investment in the readiness of both countries’ forces and improve their ability to operate together.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who participated virtually from his home because he is recovering from a COVID-19 infection, said the US-Japan alliance is increasingly important.
“We´re meeting against a backdrop of increased tensions and challenges to the free, stable and secure Indo-Pacific region that we both seek – challenges posed by North Korea´s nuclear ambitions and by the coercive and aggressive behavior of the People´s Republic of China,” Austin said according to AP.
“We remain grateful for the support that Japan continues to provide US forces deployed there and for an extraordinary level of mutual cooperation across the full spectrum of military capabilities,” he added.
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