Move for No Nukes Convention

Mayor of Hiroshima called it absolute evil. Nuclear weapon is plainly recognized as unnecessary in this world. On that notion, United Nations embarked on its effort to achieve the world without nuclear weapons. A U.N. working group on nuclear disarmament adopted a report that negotiations to outlaw nuclear weapons should be started next year. Nevertheless, it is hard to understand that the only nation that experienced devastation of nuclear weapons was negative on that effort. Japan abstained from the voting for the adoption.

U.N. General Assembly adopted a resolution last December for convening a working group to address concrete effective legal measures necessary to attain and maintain a world without nuclear weapons. The group concluded that General Assembly would need to start negotiation for a treaty for banning nuclear weapons next year. It assumed banning possession, use, storage, deployment of nuclear weapons as well as related investment for them. The report also proposed world leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Although the working group achieved some progress in the discussion over nuclear disarmament, the adoption revealed serious separation among non-nuclear nations. Chairman Thani Thongphakdi, Ambassador of Thailand, once sought unanimous resolution with various opinions of major parties in it. However, some countries, including Australia, South Korea, Poland or Turkey, demanded it being put on vote. Those nations were against nuclear disarmament treaty.

With reasoning of avoiding separation, Japan abstained from voting. The report described that Japan and other nations in Europe did not agreed on it. As a result, Japan was included in a group under nuclear umbrella of United States that thought negotiation to be too early to make broad consensus. It is fair to say that sharp opposition in non-nuclear nations exists between some under U.S. umbrella and other out of it.

Actually, current discussion over nuclear disarmament in Japan is not about non-nuclear treaty, but about first use of nuclear weapons. On the report of Washington Post that indicated Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s concern on U.S. no-first-use policy of nuclear weapon, Abe dismissed that story on Saturday. Why did it take five days for Abe to respond to the story, if he had not referred to first use of nuclear weapons in the meeting of U.S. Commander? Nobody knows. It is likely that he was looking for the reasons why Japan had to support no-first-use policy.