Japan Press Weekly

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2012 October 24 - 30 TOP3 [ANTI-N-ARMS]

Japan hampers international efforts to ban nukes

Akahata editorial (excerpts)

The governments of 34 countries have recently issued an initiative calling on all the countries of the world to intensify their efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons and achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.

The initiative succeeds the last one published by 16 countries in May and even takes a step forward. The initiative this time takes it seriously that a nuclear threat still continues today although the Cold War, the main cause of nuclear arms races, ended.

The number of countries joining the initiative doubled from the previous one. Along with the regular lineup of Non-Aligned nations and New Agenda Coalition members, permanent neutral Switzerland and Austria, U.S.-Soviet nuclear testing-affected Marshall Islands and Kazakhstan, NATO-members Norway and Denmark, and Latin American countries are participating this time.

Japan, however, refused to join the efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons. The Noda government, when asked for its endorsement to the commitment, explained that the initiative “is not necessarily consistent with Japan’s national security policy.”

Under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, Japan always sees things from the U.S. point of view. Japan’s stance has no longer become different from what the nuclear powers hold.

The nuclear-weapons states stick to the nuclear deterrent argument, thus posing obstacles to banning and eliminating nuclear weapons. The majority of the world’s governments have taken a stand for the abolition of nuclear weapons and commit themselves to break through the nuclear weapons adherence.

It is shameful for the only atomic-bombed nation of Japan to not support to the world efforts to abolish nuclear weapons.