Publication and abolition of secret nuclear agreements with the U.S. is imperative for a nuclear-free Japan

Japan Press Weekly

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

Publication and abolition of secret nuclear agreements with the U.S. is imperative for a nuclear-free Japan
Akahata editorial (excerpts)

A committee established by Foreign Minister Okada Katsuya for a probe into the question of “secret agreements” on nuclear weapons with the United States held its first meeting.

The panel, chaired by Kitaoka Shin’ichi, professor at the University of Tokyo, is tasked to verify the outcome of the investigation conducted by the Foreign Ministry as ordered by the foreign minister.

Its examination focuses on the following four main cases:

(1) a secret agreement concluded at the time when the revised Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was signed in 1960;
(2) a secret agreement associated with U.S. combat operations in the event of an emergency in the Korean Peninsula;
(3) a secret agreement allowing the U.S. to introduce nuclear weapons concluded at the time of the reversion to Japan of the administrative rights over Okinawa; and
(4) a secret agreement that Japan would pay compensation to the United States for the reversion of Okinawa.

It is natural that the government verify, make public, and abrogate all these secret agreements with the United States.

Secret agreements are still in place

The existence of these four secret agreements, including the nuclear agreements, has been made clear from documents released by the United States. Nevertheless, successive Liberal Democratic Party governments were consistent in denying even their existence. How absurd it is for Japan to continue to deny the existence of documents that have been made public in the United States!

The “secret nuclear agreements” were concluded at the time when Japan and the United States revised their bilateral security treaty. On May 20, 1959, then Japanese Foreign Minister Fujiyama Aiichiro and then U.S. Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur reached agreement on the secret arrangement. They signed the secret agreement on January 6, 1960. The U.S. State Department and Defense Department jointly submitted the document under the title “Record of Discussion” so that the Japanese government can deny being a part of any such secret agreements.

The “Record of Discussion” made clear that entry of U.S. military aircraft and ships carrying nuclear weapons into Japanese waters and ports does not affect procedures regarding the deployment of U.S. forces between the two countries.

Basically, the revised Security Treaty ensured that the United States can bring in nuclear weapons to Japan in the same way as in the old Security Treaty. The two countries agreed that warships and warplanes carrying nuclear weapons can pass through Japanese territory and enter Japanese ports without requiring prior consultation.

Thus, the Japanese government reneged on its promise to the public that it will not allow the U.S. forces to bring in nuclear weapons. The secret nuclear agreements are incompatible with the Three Non-Nuclear Principles of not to possess, manufacture or allow the entry into Japan of nuclear weapons, the principle that the government has explained as a national policy. At the same time, the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty setup should be scrutinized, including the so-called “prior consultation” arrangements, which the government explained as the foundation for Japan to hold fast to its independence (in a Foreign Ministry document in 1960).

When the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was revised in 1960, the United States forced Japan to allow the United States to define Japan as its strategic foothold and forward base of operations, and to use its bases in Japan as a stepping-stone for action anywhere abroad. No wonder that the Japanese archipelago at that time was shaken by a major citizen movement against the security treaty. The fact is that the Japanese government tried to evade public criticism of the security treaty by accepting secret agreements with the United States. How can we allow the government to keep alive the secret agreements which the government concluded with the United States by deceiving the public?

Want ‘equal relations’ with the United States?

The existence of the secret agreements is an undeniable fact as shown by the Foreign Ministry’s investigation. The question is what is to be done after the government makes public the documents following their verification by the panel.

Some political forces are insisting that entry into Japan of nuclear weapons should be allowed in order to maintain the U.S. nuclear deterrent. This call betrays all those people who are making efforts to get nuclear weapons abolished.

Prime Minister Hatoyama Yukio advocates an equal relationship with the United States. He has promised to make efforts to achieve a world without nuclear weapons. If he is to be true to his word, the government must abrogate all secret agreements with the United States, including the nuclear agreements, and get out from under the so-called the U.S. nuclear umbrella now.

- Akahata, November 28, 2009