Japan Urges U.S. to Limit Troop Movements Over Covid Spread

(Bloomberg) -- Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi called on the U.S. to impose restrictions on troops stationed in Japan amid virus outbreaks thought to have stemmed from bases, which have strained ties between the allies.

In a phone conversation Thursday with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Hayashi called for stronger virus measures, including limits on excursions off base, to relieve anxiety among local people, according to a statement issued by Japan's Foreign Ministry. Blinken responded that the health and safety of local people was extremely important and said he would convey the message to the Defense Department, the ministry said. 

A separate statement from the State Department, however, said only that the two “expressed their shared commitment to combating and recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic,” without mentioning the infections that are part of a surge in cases following months at low levels. 

U.S. Forces Japan said in a statement issued after the call that mitigation efforts would be stepped up for all military installations across the country. 

Pacifist Japan relies heavily on its only treaty ally, the U.S., for national security, but local communities have long complained of crime, pollution and accidents associated with the military bases. The spread of the virus adds a new headache for the alliance. 

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The Japanese government is planning to introduce restrictions aimed at controlling the virus in the prefectures of Okinawa, Yamaguchi and Hiroshima, public broadcaster NHK said. Okinawa forecast about 980 cases for Thursday -- the highest since the pandemic began -- and announced it would ask the government to declare a quasi-emergency. Yamaguchi, which also hosts a U.S. Marine base, is seeing its worst figures since August. Hiroshima is adjacent to Yamaguchi. 

The number of daily infections nationwide leaped to more than 2,000 on Wednesday, for the first time since late September, a figure dwarfed by the more than a million cases recorded in the U.S. earlier in the week. 

Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike was set to meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida about the virus surge Thursday. Koike had said late Wednesday she had no plans at that point to ask the national government to introduce a quasi-emergency in the capital over the coronavirus. 

The Japanese capital confirmed 390 cases on Wednesday, compared with 76 a week earlier.

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