Make Japan nuclear-free by strictly banning entry into Japan of foreign ships/aircraft carrying nuclear weapons

Japan Press Weekly

Japan Press Service Co., Ltd. is the only news agency providing information of progressive, democratic movements in Japan

Make Japan nuclear-free by strictly banning entry into Japan of foreign ships/aircraft carrying nuclear weapons

During a debate with other party leaders on the TV Asahi "Sunday Project" program on August 23, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo called for the strict implementation of the ban on foreign vessels and aircraft carrying nuclear weapons from entering Japanese seaports or airports in order to make Japan nuclear weapons free in real terms.

The question has to do with the secret agreement that Japan concluded with the United States in which U.S. warships and war planes carrying nuclear weapons are allowed to enter Japanese ports in transit or navigate Japanese territorial waters in contravention of the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles" (not to possess, manufacture or allow the entry into Japan of nuclear weapons), which the Japanese government has supposedly implemented as a national policy.

Shii said the government must disclose and abrogate the secret Japan-U.S. agreement on allowing nuclear weapons into Japan.

Holding a copy of the text of the agreement, Shii explained that the secret agreement allows U.S. aircraft and ships carrying nuclear weapons to enter Japan without prior consultation.

He stated that U.S. attack submarines remain nuclear capable even after the United States announced a change in its U.S. nuclear posture in the 1990s and that the secret agreement is still in effect.

Democratic Party of Japan leader Hatoyama Yukio stated that if the DPJ comes to power, it will send an investigation team to the U.S. and publicly explain its findings. He also said, "We will persuade U.S. President Obama to promise that the U.S. will not bring nuclear weapons into Japan.

- Akahata, August 24, 2009