Japanese foreign minister calls for acceleration of nuclear disarmament at NPT Review Conference
May 8, 2015
by Michiko Tanaka, Staff Writer
NEW YORK--On April 27, general debate followed the opening events of the 2015 Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), taking place at United Nations headquarters in New York. In his statement, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida called for the advancement of practical and concrete measures for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation to achieve “a world free of nuclear weapons.” However, the United States and Russia, the world’s nuclear super powers, quickly butted heads over their disarmament positions. From the outset, tough negotiations are expected for the participants to reach agreement on a final document.
The last time a Japanese foreign minister made a statement at the NPT Review Conference was in 2005. Referring to the fact that so many lives were lost in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and that many of the atomic bomb survivors have been suffering from its aftereffects, Mr. Kishida conveyed the following thoughts for the survivors: “Even though they do not want to remember their experience of the atomic bombing, they will not allow themselves to forget so that such an atrocity is never repeated.” He made an appeal to the conference participants, declaring the need to accelerate nuclear disarmament.
In particular, Mr. Kishida attached importance to the transparency of nuclear arsenals, urging the nuclear weapon states to make concrete and regular reports concerning the number of nuclear warheads in their possession. He also proposed multinational negotiations for nuclear weapons reduction. Although he called for a common recognition of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, he didn’t mention the increasing international calls for a ban on nuclear weapons because of their humanitarian consequences.
Mr. Kishida called on world political leaders and youth to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He mentioned that Japan will host the G7 Summit next year. Although the city of Hiroshima is seeking to host the summit, Mr. Kishida limited himself to saying that he hoped “political leaders visiting Japan will extend their journey to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry revealed President Barack Obama’s decision to accelerate the dismantling of some 2,500 decommissioned nuclear warheads by 20% to call attention to U.S. nuclear disarmament efforts. At the same time, he accused Russia of violating its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and said, “There should be no reason for creating a new risk.” Citing Russia’s annexing of Crimea last March, Mr. Kerry said that Russia trampled on the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances of 1994 on security assurances for Ukraine in exchange for abandoning nuclear weapons.
A Russian representative rebutted the U.S. allegation by saying, “There is no credible evidence for the U.S. allegation of Russia’s non-compliance of the INF treaty. The U.S. is trying to discredit Russia.” Citing the U.S. missile-defense (MD) plan as an example, he said, “U.S. strategies seriously threaten the advancement of nuclear disarmament.”
Prior to the general debate, a message from Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, was delivered by Jan Eliasson, the U.N. deputy secretary-general. In his message, Mr. Ban said, “I challenge anyone who doubts the urgency of nuclear disarmament to listen to the experiences of atomic bomb survivors.” It was reported that Israel, which is not a member of the NPT, is attending the conference as an observer state.
(Originally published on April 29, 2015)
NEW YORK--On April 27, general debate followed the opening events of the 2015 Review Conference for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), taking place at United Nations headquarters in New York. In his statement, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida called for the advancement of practical and concrete measures for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation to achieve “a world free of nuclear weapons.” However, the United States and Russia, the world’s nuclear super powers, quickly butted heads over their disarmament positions. From the outset, tough negotiations are expected for the participants to reach agreement on a final document.
The last time a Japanese foreign minister made a statement at the NPT Review Conference was in 2005. Referring to the fact that so many lives were lost in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and that many of the atomic bomb survivors have been suffering from its aftereffects, Mr. Kishida conveyed the following thoughts for the survivors: “Even though they do not want to remember their experience of the atomic bombing, they will not allow themselves to forget so that such an atrocity is never repeated.” He made an appeal to the conference participants, declaring the need to accelerate nuclear disarmament.
In particular, Mr. Kishida attached importance to the transparency of nuclear arsenals, urging the nuclear weapon states to make concrete and regular reports concerning the number of nuclear warheads in their possession. He also proposed multinational negotiations for nuclear weapons reduction. Although he called for a common recognition of the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons, he didn’t mention the increasing international calls for a ban on nuclear weapons because of their humanitarian consequences.
Mr. Kishida called on world political leaders and youth to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He mentioned that Japan will host the G7 Summit next year. Although the city of Hiroshima is seeking to host the summit, Mr. Kishida limited himself to saying that he hoped “political leaders visiting Japan will extend their journey to Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry revealed President Barack Obama’s decision to accelerate the dismantling of some 2,500 decommissioned nuclear warheads by 20% to call attention to U.S. nuclear disarmament efforts. At the same time, he accused Russia of violating its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) and said, “There should be no reason for creating a new risk.” Citing Russia’s annexing of Crimea last March, Mr. Kerry said that Russia trampled on the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances of 1994 on security assurances for Ukraine in exchange for abandoning nuclear weapons.
A Russian representative rebutted the U.S. allegation by saying, “There is no credible evidence for the U.S. allegation of Russia’s non-compliance of the INF treaty. The U.S. is trying to discredit Russia.” Citing the U.S. missile-defense (MD) plan as an example, he said, “U.S. strategies seriously threaten the advancement of nuclear disarmament.”
Prior to the general debate, a message from Ban Ki-moon, the secretary-general of the United Nations, was delivered by Jan Eliasson, the U.N. deputy secretary-general. In his message, Mr. Ban said, “I challenge anyone who doubts the urgency of nuclear disarmament to listen to the experiences of atomic bomb survivors.” It was reported that Israel, which is not a member of the NPT, is attending the conference as an observer state.
(Originally published on April 29, 2015)
