Japan Press Weekly

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2022 June 15 - 21 [POLITICS]

JCP will attend 1st TPNW Con. while Japanese gov’t opts not to do so

Prime Minister Kishida Fumio on June 15 at a press conference announced his decision that the Japanese government will not attend the first meeting of States Parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) which will begin in six days in Vienna, Austria.

This decision reveals the government’s stance to disregard the demands of Hibakusha, the call for nuclear disarmament by A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and TPNW signatories for Japan’s participation in the meeting as an observer, disappointing states and civil society working toward a world without nuclear weapons.

At the press conference, explaining the reason for his decision, PM Kishida said, “None of the nuclear-weapons states will take part in the TPNW. Japan will advance a practical approach toward nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation under the relationship of trust with the U.S., Japan’s sole military ally.”

Meanwhile, Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo at a JCP Dietmembers’ assembly held following the end of the ordinary Diet session reported that the JCP will send to Vienna its delegation headed by JCP International Commission Vice Chair Kasai Akira, JCP Lower House member.

Shii expressed his hope that the first TPNW meeting will succeed in helping to bring about a world free of nuclear weapons and that the JCP delegation will be able to make a significant contribution to the meeting.

Past related article:
> Refusal to participate in 1st TPNW conference is shameful behavior as only A-bombed nation in the world [June 12, 2022]