Government reports on Japan-U.S secret pacts

Japan Press Weekly

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Government reports on Japan-U.S secret pacts

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on March 9 published reports by its investigation team and a panel of experts regarding Japan-U.S. secret agreements. The investigation has been conducted since September 2009.

The existence of a copy of the “Record of Discussion” on the bringing-in of nuclear weapons to Japan was confirmed for the first time since Japanese Communist Party Chair Fuwa Tetsuzo revealed it in 2000. The “Record of Discussion” was signed by Foreign Minister Fujiyama Aiichiro and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur II in 1960 when the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was revised.

The expert panel, however, said that “there has been no explicit agreement on whether port calls by nuclear-armed ships require prior consultation.” The panel asserts that the “Record of Discussion” was not a secret agreement and states that there was only a “tacit agreement”.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs team states that “there has been disagreement between Japan and the U.S.” on whether port calls by U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons are exempted from prior consultation. The ministry excused itself by claiming that the Japanese side has never recognized the “Record of Discussion” as secret pact.

So long as the government admits to the existence of the “Record of Discussion”, it must recognize that this is a secret agreement on the U.S. bringing-in of nuclear weapons to Japan, JCP Shii Kazuo emphasized. He demanded that the government abrogate the secret agreement and take effective measures to implement the Three Non-nuclear Principles.

The “Record of Discussion” on the bringing in of nuclear weapons to Japan was signed on January 6, 1960 by Foreign Minister Fujiyama Aiichiro and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur II.

Fuwa Tetsuzo, then Japanese Communist Party chair, revealed this document in 2000.

The report of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs fact-finding team states that this text is the same as the text of a copy which has been found in the ministry, except for rhetorical parts.

TREATY OF MUTUAL COOPERATION AND SECURITY
RECORD OF DISCUSSION
TOKYO JUNE --- 1959

1. Reference is made to the draft exchange of notes concerning the implementation of Article VI of the Treaty, the operative part of which reads as follows:

"Major changes in the deployment into Japan of United States armed forces, major changes in their equipment, and the use of facilities and areas in Japan as bases for military combat operations to be undertaken from Japan other than those conducted under Article V of the said Treaty, shall be the subjects of prior consultation with the Government of Japan."

2. The notes were drawn up with the following points being taken into consideration and understood:

A. "Major changes in their equipment" is understood to mean the introduction into Japan of nuclear weapons, including intermediate and long-range missiles as well as the construction of bases for such weapons, and will not, for example, mean the introduction of non-nuclear weapons including short-range missiles without nuclear components.

B. "Military combat operations other than those conducted under Article V" is understood to mean military combat operations that may be initiated from Japan against areas outside Japan.

C. "Prior consultation" will not be interpreted as affecting present procedures regarding the deployment of United States armed forces and their equipment into Japan and those for the entry of United States military aircraft and the entry into Japanese waters and ports by United States naval vessels, except in the case of major changes in the deployment into Japan of United States armed forces.

D. Nothing in the exchange of notes will be construed as requiring "prior consultation" on the transfer of units of United States armed forces and their equipment from Japan.

- Akahata, March 10, 2010