Japan Press Weekly

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2020 June 24 - 30 [POLITICS]

Shii: US military quarantine measure should be subject to domestic laws meeting anti-coronavirus measures

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at a press conference in the Diet building on June 25 said that U.S. military personnel when entering Japan should undergo quarantine under Japanese domestic laws as measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections.

Currently, U.S. medical officers subject U.S. troops to quarantine when needed based on the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee agreement made on December 2 of 1996.

Shii said, "What to do as countermeasures against the spread of the coronavirus is totally up to the U.S. forces. Despite the possibility of bringing in COVID-19 infections to Japan, Japanese authorities allow U.S. servicemen to enter without quarantine on their arrival. Japanese domestic laws should be applied to the U.S. forces so that Japan can enforce their quarantine."

Shii pointed out that the present Japan-U.S. Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) does not include any details concerning quarantine, and stressed the need to revise the SOFA by referring to the fact that 15 U.S. base-hosting prefectural governors are also demanding SOFA amendments.

Shii pointed out that the German government, under a NATO supplementary agreement, applies Germany's legal regulations regarding quarantine on NATO troops and NATO civilian employees.

He again demanded that Japan should also apply its domestic laws to U.S. forces in regard to quarantine inspections, and that to achieve this, the SOFA should be revised without delay.

Past related articles:
> Despite ongoing coronavirus crisis, US military-chartered aircraft regularly arrive at US bases in Japan [May 14, 2020]
> Residents of US base-hosting cities demand that Japanese gov't prevent US military corona infections from entering local communities [April 9, 2020]