Japan-U.S. Relations: Issues for Congress
Abstract
post-World War II U.S.-Japan alliance has long been an anchor of the U.S. security role in East Asia. The alliance, with its access to bases in Japan, where about 53,000 U.S. troops are stationed, facilitates the forward deployment of U.S. military forces in the Asia-Pacific, thereby undergirding U.S. national security strategy. For Japan, the alliance and the U.S. nuclear umbrella provide maneuvering room in dealing with its neighbors, particularly China and North Korea. The Bush Administration has made significant strides in its goals of broadening U.S.-Japan strategic cooperation and encouraging Japan to assume a more active international role. In 2005 the U.S. and Japan announced a sweeping new agreement to strengthen military cooperation. The plan calls for U.S. forces to be realigned and Japan to take on a more active (non-combat) role in maintaining regional and global security. Most of these developments have been viewed warily by South Korea and opposed outright by China. Beijing and Seoul also have expressed concern at the assertive foreign policy stance adopted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his predecessor Junichiro Koizumi, both of whom were buoyed by heightened senses of nationalism and vulnerability (to North Korea and China) among many Japanese. Japan is one of the United States most important economic partners. Outside of North America, it is the United States' largest export market and second-largest source of imports. Japanese firms are the United States' second-largest source of foreign direct investment, and Japanese investors are by far the largest foreign holders of U.S. treasuries, helping to finance the U.S. deficit and reduce upward pressure on U.S. interest rates. Bilateral trade friction has decreased in recent years, partly because U.S. concern about the trade deficit with Japan has been replaced by concern about a much larger deficit with China.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 05, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA478298
Entities
People
- Emma Chanlett-Avery
- Mark E. Manyin
- William H. Cooper
Organizations
- Library of Congress