NPT Watch: Steady diplomatic efforts by conference president
May 19, 2010
by Yumi Kanazaki, Staff Writer, dispatched from New York
On May 16, which marked the midpoint of the four-week session of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, Libran Cabactulan, president of the conference, listened attentively to a peace concert that was initiated by Yasuko Mitsui, a harpsichord player from the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, and held at Carnegie Hall in New York.
I spoke to Mr. Cabactulan during the intermission and asked his assessment of the review conference. "It has proceeded as expected thus far," he said. He then nodded firmly when I mentioned the importance of this fact.
It was at the 21st United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues, held in the city of Niigata last August, that I first met Mr. Cabactulan, the Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations.
Researchers and specialists from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), among others, had gathered for the conference in Niigata. The nature of the conference was different from that of an intergovernmental conference, such as the NPT Review Conference and the Geneva Conference on Disarmament. The city of Niigata is distant from Tokyo as well. When I asked him the reason for his participation in that conference, he answered: "In order to meet government officials and understand what they're thinking." Government officials from the United States and other nations, too, attended the conference.
The fact that the NPT Review Conference "has proceeded as expected thus far" is likely the result of Mr. Cabactulan's steady diplomatic efforts since last year. However, on May 17, the day following the peace concert and the time when the conference participants began full discussions to prepare the final document of agreements, the nuclear weapons states already started expressing concern over the initial drafts, including the draft provision for a road map toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The NPT Review Conference will close on May 28. The president's abilities will be tested in many more stages of the gathering.
(Originally published on May 19, 2010)
On May 16, which marked the midpoint of the four-week session of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, Libran Cabactulan, president of the conference, listened attentively to a peace concert that was initiated by Yasuko Mitsui, a harpsichord player from the city of Hatsukaichi in Hiroshima Prefecture, and held at Carnegie Hall in New York.
I spoke to Mr. Cabactulan during the intermission and asked his assessment of the review conference. "It has proceeded as expected thus far," he said. He then nodded firmly when I mentioned the importance of this fact.
It was at the 21st United Nations Conference on Disarmament Issues, held in the city of Niigata last August, that I first met Mr. Cabactulan, the Philippine Ambassador to the United Nations.
Researchers and specialists from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), among others, had gathered for the conference in Niigata. The nature of the conference was different from that of an intergovernmental conference, such as the NPT Review Conference and the Geneva Conference on Disarmament. The city of Niigata is distant from Tokyo as well. When I asked him the reason for his participation in that conference, he answered: "In order to meet government officials and understand what they're thinking." Government officials from the United States and other nations, too, attended the conference.
The fact that the NPT Review Conference "has proceeded as expected thus far" is likely the result of Mr. Cabactulan's steady diplomatic efforts since last year. However, on May 17, the day following the peace concert and the time when the conference participants began full discussions to prepare the final document of agreements, the nuclear weapons states already started expressing concern over the initial drafts, including the draft provision for a road map toward the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The NPT Review Conference will close on May 28. The president's abilities will be tested in many more stages of the gathering.
(Originally published on May 19, 2010)
