Japan Press Weekly

Tweet

2020 November 11 - 17 [POLITICS]

Japan MOFA: Regional tensions and conflicts are caused by N-weapons

Japanese Communist Party representative Kokuta Keiji on November 13 revealed a Ministry of Foreign Affairs' document stating that the existence and possession of nuclear weapons are "the cause of regional tensions and conflicts".

Arguing that "U.S. nuclear deterrence is essential for Japan's security", the government of Japan refuses to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). The MOFA document, however, recognizes that the existence of nuclear weapons itself has been posing a destabilizing factor to global security.

The document was issued on September 12, 2013 by the MOFA Foreign Policy Bureau for use as reference material for Prime Minister Abe Shinzo. Pointing to the United States, China, Russia, and North Korea, the document states, "Tensions and conflicts in the region are attributed to or caused by policy options incorporating the existence of nuclear weapons or the possession of such weapons."

At the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee meeting held on November 13, Kokuta said, "The document shows the MOFA recognition that the treaty banning nuclear weapons does not deepen the confrontation and divisions between nuclear haves and have-nots and that nuclear weapons themselves are the cause of regional tensions and conflicts."

Kokuta criticized the Japanese government attitude clinging to the discredited deterrence theory under the U.S. nuclear umbrella and demanded that Japan sign and ratify the treaty without delay.

Past related article:
> Monumental UN treaty banning nuclear weapons finally to come into force [October 26, 2020]