Japan-U.S. joint statement on NPT urges world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki, stresses importance of NPT but makes no mention of TPNW
Feb. 22, 2022
by Seiji Shitakubo and Junya Kuchimoto, Staff Writers
On January 21, the governments of Japan and the United States released a joint statement reaffirming the importance of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which obligates all nuclear weapon states to engage in nuclear disarmament negotiations. In the joint statement, Japan and the United States call on political leaders and young people to visit the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The statement also calls on China, which continues to expand its nuclear capabilities, to increase transparency. The joint statement signals agreement between Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (representing Hiroshima Prefecture’s District No. 1) and U.S. President Joe Biden on the goal of achieving a world without nuclear weapons. The statement, nonetheless, makes no mention of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
The statement stresses that the NPT “has enabled dramatic reductions in nuclear stockpiles and will serve as an essential basis for future nuclear disarmament.” It calls on all states parties to the treaty to contribute to delivering a meaningful outcome at the NPT Review Conference, scheduled to take place later this year in August.
Touching on then U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in 2016, which was the first such visit by a sitting president of the United States, the country that dropped the atomic bombs, the joint statement asks “political leaders, youth, and others to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to raise and sustain awareness.” Also indicated in the statement is that Japan welcomes the declaration issued earlier this month by the leaders of the five major nuclear weapon states—the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France—that calls for avoidance of nuclear war.
The joint statement indicates, “…, noting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ongoing increase in its nuclear capabilities, Japan and the United States request the PRC to contribute to arrangements that reduce nuclear risks, increase transparency, and advance nuclear disarmament.” As for North Korea, the statement demands “the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement (CVID)” of all North Korea’s nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. It also urges Iran to cease nuclear escalation and immediately cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an organization engaged in the monitoring of such nuclear issues.
The joint statement makes no mention of the TPNW, however, which entered into force on January 22 last year. That absence reveals the mindset of the United States, which hopes to avoid its nuclear deterrence being restricted by the banning of nuclear weapons, and Japan, a country reliant on the U.S. “nuclear umbrella.”
Japan and the United States released another joint statement in 2015, at the time the last NPT review conference was convened. That statement also stressed the importance of the NPT, using such language as “Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be forever engraved in the world’s memory.”
(Originally published on January 22, 2022)
On January 21, the governments of Japan and the United States released a joint statement reaffirming the importance of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which obligates all nuclear weapon states to engage in nuclear disarmament negotiations. In the joint statement, Japan and the United States call on political leaders and young people to visit the A-bombed cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The statement also calls on China, which continues to expand its nuclear capabilities, to increase transparency. The joint statement signals agreement between Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida (representing Hiroshima Prefecture’s District No. 1) and U.S. President Joe Biden on the goal of achieving a world without nuclear weapons. The statement, nonetheless, makes no mention of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
The statement stresses that the NPT “has enabled dramatic reductions in nuclear stockpiles and will serve as an essential basis for future nuclear disarmament.” It calls on all states parties to the treaty to contribute to delivering a meaningful outcome at the NPT Review Conference, scheduled to take place later this year in August.
Touching on then U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Hiroshima in 2016, which was the first such visit by a sitting president of the United States, the country that dropped the atomic bombs, the joint statement asks “political leaders, youth, and others to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki to raise and sustain awareness.” Also indicated in the statement is that Japan welcomes the declaration issued earlier this month by the leaders of the five major nuclear weapon states—the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France—that calls for avoidance of nuclear war.
The joint statement indicates, “…, noting the People’s Republic of China’s (PRC) ongoing increase in its nuclear capabilities, Japan and the United States request the PRC to contribute to arrangements that reduce nuclear risks, increase transparency, and advance nuclear disarmament.” As for North Korea, the statement demands “the complete, verifiable, and irreversible dismantlement (CVID)” of all North Korea’s nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles. It also urges Iran to cease nuclear escalation and immediately cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), an organization engaged in the monitoring of such nuclear issues.
The joint statement makes no mention of the TPNW, however, which entered into force on January 22 last year. That absence reveals the mindset of the United States, which hopes to avoid its nuclear deterrence being restricted by the banning of nuclear weapons, and Japan, a country reliant on the U.S. “nuclear umbrella.”
Japan and the United States released another joint statement in 2015, at the time the last NPT review conference was convened. That statement also stressed the importance of the NPT, using such language as “Hiroshima and Nagasaki will be forever engraved in the world’s memory.”
(Originally published on January 22, 2022)
