Japan, U.S. to start formal talks on costs to host American troops

Japan and the United States will launch formal negotiations later this week in Washington on a cost-sharing agreement for Tokyo's hosting of American troops, the Japanese government said Tuesday.With the current five-year deal expiring at the end of fiscal 2020 next March, the two sides need to agree on a new budget from April 2021 for hosting the around 55,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in Japan under the bilateral security alliance.While incumbent U.S. President Donald Trump has criticized the alliance as one-sided and indicated Japan should contribute more, President-elect Joe Bid…READ FULL ARTICLE