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Recoiling from the promise of nuclear weapons abolition
Akahata editorial

A weakened Japanese government resolution calling for nuclear disarmament was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly First Committee with 166 votes for and 2 votes against (the United States and India), with 7 abstentions. The resolution states renewed determination to abolish nuclear weapons on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and calls for the implementation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations, nuclear weapons reductions, and for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) to come into force.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As the world's only A-bombed country, Japan in the UNGA should have expressed its fresh determination to achieve the abolition of nuclear weapons. However, the government resolution is a setback from its 2003 resolution that included a call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

Japan uncritically follows U.S. nuclear policy

In 2003 and 2004 Japan's resolution included the call on nuclear powers to implement the "unequivocal undertaking" to "accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals" as agreed at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in May, 2000, even though it placed emphasis on the promotion of the NPT system. It "welcomed" the Final Document which the United States had supported, and emphasized the importance of implementing its conclusion." It stated that the "unequivocal undertaking" by nuclear weapons states to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals, leading to nuclear disarmament, is of crucial importance as practical measures.

Nuclear-weapon states' promise of an "unequivocal undertaking" to eliminate their nuclear arsenals is the fruit of the anti-nuclear movements in Japan and the rest of the world. It is important that the government resolution referred to it, even though briefly.

This year's government resolution, however, deleted from the text the pivotal "unequivocal undertaking," and inserted in the preamble an abstract statement recalling the final document of the 2000 NPT Review Conference.

The Japanese government is boasting about the largest amount of support given to this year's Japanese resolution. The fact is that this increase in support was because the New Agenda Coalition that calls for the abolition of nuclear weapons shifted to vote in favor of Hiroshima Nagasaki, taking into account that this year marks the 60th anniversary of the atomic bombings. The New Agenda Coalition has been scrutinizing Japan's ambivalent position on the "unequivocal undertaking." It criticizes this year's resolution for deleting the language.

The New Agenda Coalition has submitted to this year's UNGA First Committee a resolution calling on nuclear-possessing countries to swiftly implement the promise to eliminate their nuclear weapons, and on all U.N. member states to comply with this promise. This is in stark contrast with the Koizumi government position that has watered down the call for the elimination of nuclear weapons.

This is another example of the Koizumi government's subservience to the U.S.

Nuclear weapons are the core of the Bush administration's preemptive attack strategy. The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff's new nuclear weapons operational plan is nearing completion. Koizumi stated that any armaments are largely capable of working as deterrents (May 20).

Although the Japanese resolution refers to the CTBT, which the U.S. opposes, the Japanese government policy of following the U.S. pro-nuclear policy makes it impossible to put forward the abolition of nuclear weapons as the main call to be included in the resolution.

Even though Japan, the only nuclear bombed country in the world, should be at the forefront of the effort to abolish nuclear weapons, the Japanese government is only following the U.S. Bush administration's lead and thus distorting its basic foreign policy.

A new leap forward

El Baradei, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director, stated that the only option is to create a nuclear-free world. The world's peace and security cannot be maintained without eliminating nuclear weapons. We are seeing a new advance in the tide calling for eliminating nuclear weapons from the face of the earth.

International public opinion and movements calling for nuclear disarmament to take a further radical step are increasing. -- Akahata, November 19, 2005