ABE Shinzo, Prime Minister
KISHIDA Fumio, Foreign Minister
Japanese Government Must Stop Disruptive Attitude on the Prohibition and Elimination of Nuclear Weapons; it Should Make Sincere Effort to Achieve a Total Ban on Nuclear Weapons
Recently it was reported that in response to the move of the Obama Administration to examine a change in its nuclear policy, including a possible declaration of no first use of nuclear weapons, the Japanese Government is soliciting a consultation with the US administration, from the position of opposing the move on the ground that it would weaken “nuclear umbrella”.
It is already an established consensus that any use of nuclear weapons could cause catastrophic humanitarian consequences, and that the only absolute guarantee against it is the complete elimination of nuclear weapons, as it has been laid down by a number of resolutions of the UN General Assembly, as well as by the three International Conferences on the Humanitarian Consequences of Nuclear Weapons, in which the Japanese Government took part.
Let alone, No first use of nuclear weapons is a matter of sheer common sense, and even among the nuclear weapon states, China has officially taken this policy.
The position of the Japanese government to accept even the use of nuclear weapons as pre-requisite has in fact nothing to do with “security”. On the contrary, it helps dangerously escalate the tension in Asian region, and thus obstruct the effort to achieve a peaceful and nuclear weapon-free world. It totally contradict both the Japanese people’s opinion and the ideal of Japan’s Constitution.
We urge the government of Japan to immediately stop sabotaging the endeavor to prohibit and eliminate nuclear weapons. It should press the nuclear powers to fulfill their undertaking to achieve “complete elimination of their nuclear weapons”, and as the only A-bombed country should make sincere efforts to achieve total ban on nuclear weapons.
July 18, 2016
Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Gensuikyo)
