Trump complains security pact with Japan nonreciprocal

    WASHINGTON, March 6 Kyodo - U.S. President Donald Trump complained Thursday that his country's decades-old security treaty with Japan is nonreciprocal.

    While speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump suddenly touched on Japan. "I love Japan. We have a great relationship with Japan, but we have an interesting deal with Japan that we have to protect them, but they don't have to protect us," he said.

    "That's the way the deal reads. We have to protect Japan. And by the way, they make a fortune with us economically," he said. "I actually ask who makes these deals?"

    Trump's reference to Japan came while he was accusing European countries of "ripping off" the United States in trade while failing to pay enough for their own national security.

    "We've been supporting the whole world...We were supporting NATO. We were paying the bills for other countries," he said.

    Since returning to the White House on Jan. 20, Trump has not spoken much about Japan and the latest remarks were his first questioning the fairness of the U.S.-Japan alliance during his nonconsecutive second term.

    When Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba visited Washington in February, Trump did not make any such complaints publicly, although he has repeatedly said U.S. allies can and should do more.

    The revised bilateral treaty, signed in 1960, commits the United States to come to the defense of Japan if it is attacked and requires Japan to grant the United States the right to establish bases to station its forces on the Japanese archipelago.

    Under the treaty, over 50,000 U.S. military personnel are stationed in Japan, with more permanently based than in any other country.

    Both Japanese and U.S. officials believe the strong presence of the U.S. military is vital for maintaining peace and prosperity not only in Japan but also in the Indo-Pacific, amid China's growing clout and North Korea's nuclear weapons and missile development programs.

    As part of sharing the cost of U.S. forces stationed in Japan, Tokyo provides host-nation support totaling about $2 billion annually, which the United States uses to pay for workers and utilities.

    During his first term, Trump pressured Japan, South Korea and other allies to pay more for U.S. security support.

    Trump once grumbled that under the U.S.-Japan treaty, even if the United States were attacked, Japan would not be obligated to assist and could "watch it on a Sony television."

==Kyodo