70% see Japan-US security alliance in positive light: gov't survey

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Nearly 70 percent of people in Japan value the bilateral ties the country maintains with the United States, a recent survey released by the Foreign Ministry indicates.

In the telephone survey conducted March 13-15 involving 1,000 respondents aged 18 or older, 68.9 percent said they favor the security alliance which is based on a 60-year-old security treaty.

Those who held a negative view of the relationship totaled 27.5 percent.

The Japan-U.S. security treaty was signed in January 1960 and entered into force five months later.

Under the treaty, based on a similar pact inked six years after Japan's surrender in World War II, the United States is obliged to defend Japan in the event it is attacked.

To make that possible, the treaty allows the United States to station its military in parts of Japan. Some 54,000 U.S. troops are deployed to bases across the archipelago, the bulk in Okinawa.

South Korea hosts about 28,500 U.S. troops.

The survey also showed the majority of respondents believe Japan and the United States should enhance ties in security and other fields due to North Korea's persistent nuclear threat and the rise of China.

Asked in which areas Japan and the United States should strengthen ties, 78.8 percent of respondents named security, followed by exchanges of people and culture at 76.8 percent, and economy, trade and finance, at 74.7 percent.

A total of 84.9 percent said they perceive the East Asia security environment as becoming increasingly severe in recent years, slightly down from 86.7 percent in the survey last year.

On the Middle East situation, a total of 70.8 percent said Japan should involve itself in efforts aimed at easing growing tensions in the region caused by factors such as Iran's nuclear programs.