Japan Press Weekly

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2021 August 4 - 10 [PEACE]

Shii attends NGO-hosted forum regarding UN treaty banning nuclear weapons

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo attended a forum which the Japan NGO Network for Nuclear Weapons Abolition held in Hiroshima on August 5.

Along with the JCP chair, those who participated in the forum were UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Nakamitsu Izumi, Austrian Ambassador Alexander Kmentt, who will host the first conference of States Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations (Nihon Hidankyo) Assistant Secretary General Kodama Michiko, and lawmakers from ruling and opposition parties.

Nakamitsu in her speech stressed that as shown by the Biological Weapons Convention and the anti-Personnel Landmines Convention, the participation of countries not party to the TPNW as observers in discussions at the first meeting slated for January next year will help strengthen the TPNW. She called on the Japanese government to at the least consider sitting in on the meeting.

Kodama pointed out, “The government of Japan, the only A-bombed nation in the world, should ratify the TPNW and play a leading role in working for the abolition of nuclear weapons.” She urged the participating parliamentarians to push the Japanese government to ratify the treaty and participate in the States Parties meeting in January.

In the debate session, political party representatives exchanged their views.

JCP Chair Shii welcomed the entry into force of the antinuke UN treaty and criticized the Japanese government for sticking to the nuclear deterrence policy and opposing the treaty. He added, “The nuclear deterrence theory assumes the possible use of nuclear weapons. The Japanese government’s stance is tantamount to accepting the recurrence of the inhumane consequences following the use of nuclear arms which Hiroshima and Nagasaki experienced.” Referring to the government position of denouncing the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons, Shii said, “If this is the case, the government should decide to abandon the nuclear deterrence policy.”

Shii noted that the Japanese government uses the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty as an excuse to refuse to sign and ratify the TPNW. He said, “The bilateral security accord does not prevent Japan from signing and ratifying the nuclear weapons ban treaty. Thus, the government should decide to join the TPNW.” In addition, he expressed his determination to work together with other opposition parties to realize a government which will ratify the treaty.

Opposition party representatives in their remarks stressed the need for Japan to ratify the TPNW and participate in the states parties conference as an observer, while ruling party representatives said nothing in regard to the treaty.