Fate of NATO in question as US insists on protection fee
THE US PRESIDENT complained late last year that US military spending was crazily high, but the fiscal 2020 military budget due to be presented to Congress on Monday amounts to $750 billion, a record level. China Daily reporter Wu Yixue comments:
To finance the colossal military spending of the United States, the US administration is resorting to all possible means. According to media reports, it is studying a plan that would require US allies to pay 100 percent for US troops stationed in their territories, plus 50 percent more as "membership fees".
US allies such as the Republic of Korea, Japan and Germany have all responded fiercely to such a requirement. On Friday, the ROK signed an accord with the US, agreeing to increase its funding for the 28,500 US soldiers stationed in the ROK by 8.2 percent. But Yonhap News Agency is concerned that after the accord expires in a year, Washington may ask for more from Seoul.
