Japan Press Weekly
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Ruling parties railroad through esympathy budgetf for U.S. military
The ruling Liberal Democratic and Komei parties on April 3 used their majority in the House of Representatives to railroad through the bill to extend the Japan-U.S. special agreement to continue Japanfs payment of the so-called gsympathy budgeth for the stationing of U.S. forces in Japan for another three years.
Opposition parties, including the Japanese Communist, Democratic, and Social Democratic parties, voted against.
Japanfs payment under the name of the gsympathy budgeth began in 1978, and expanded year by year, but the government could not give convincing explanations as to how it can be justified by the Japan-U.S. agreement on the status of U.S. forces in Japan (SOFA) that already gives U.S. forces in Japan various privileges.
In 1987, Japan concluded a special measures agreement with the United States to gjustifyh increasing its ghost nation supporth for U.S. forces in Japan. At the time, the government said that Japan was taking ga temporary, limited, and extraordinaryh budgetary measures. The latest is the fifth renewal of the extraordinary agreement.
At the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee meeting on April 2, JCP representative Kasai Akira demanded an end to the gsympathy budget,h which obliges Japan to expend more than 200 billion yen (about 2 billion dollars) each year without legal grounds. He said crimes by U.S. servicemen in Japan continue simply because of the existence of U.S. military bases.
Pointing out that the gsympathy budgeth began with a promise that it will be a temporary measure, Kasai criticized the government for trying to continue it indefinitely.
Foreign Minister Komura Masahiko said that g(it can end) only when the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty will become unnecessary.h Prime Minister Fukuda Yasuo supported Komurafs statement.
Kasai maintained, gThe government is just trying to perpetuate the agreement.h
Realignment of U.S. forces in Japan
Citing former Prime Minister Abe Shinzofs promise to gmake the total amount of Japanese payment for the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan public as early as possible,h Kasai demanded that government make it public.
Fukuda avoided promising to do on the grounds that gthe matter is being considered by the two countries.h
gJapan must abolish the esympathy budgetf system because it will oblige Japan to pay for the U.S. military realignment costs indefinitely,h Kasai added.
Costs for U.S. Marine relocation to Guam
Kasai also raised questions about Japanfs payment totaling 700 billion yen (about 7 billion dollars) for the planned relocation of part of the U.S. Marines stationed in Okinawa to Guam.
He revealed the Japanese plan to pay the costs for the infrastructure of off-base construction projects, such as a power stations and water sewerage facilities to be used by both U.S. forces and nearby residents.
Under the 2006 Japan-U.S. agreement on the realignment of U.S. bases in Japan, Japan is to pay 6.09 billion dollars -about 60 percent of the total cost for the construction of a U.S. Marine Corps base - that includes 740 million dollars for the infrastructure for the base in Guam.
Takamizawa Nobushige, the Defense Ministry's defense policy bureau director general, said that Japanfs payment for the infrastructure for constructing off-base facilities is not precluded.
Takamizawafs remark contradicts the previous government explanation that Japan will pay only for facilities within the base.
Kasai said, gIn Okinawa, the penetration rate of water and sewage services is 63.3 percent, much lower than the national average of 82.4 percent. The Japanese government is trying to provide benefits for Guam residents while ignoring the needs of Okinawans. Japan must stop its overly generous treatment of U.S. forces right now.h - Akahata, April 3, 2008
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