Non No-First-Use Lobbying

It is a great contradiction for the leader of a country, which once suffered from unprecedented inhumanity of devastation in nuclear war, to block an effort of a nuclear giant to declare not to make first use of nuclear weapon. Washington Post reported that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had lobbied United States Barack Obama administration to maintain the option of first use of nuclear weapon for Japan’s security. News organizations in Japan were surprised with the story of huge inconsistency.

Washington Post ran a story with headline of “U.S. allies unite to block Obama’s nuclear ‘legacy’” on Monday, which indicated that Japan, South Korea, France and Britain had privately communicated their concerns about potential declaration by Obama of “no first use” nuclear-weapons policy.

The article explained that Japan believed that deterrence against countries such as North Korea would suffer and the risks of conflict would rise, if Obama introduce that no first use policy. “Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe personally conveyed that message recently to Adm. Harry Harris Jr., the head of U.S. Pacific Command, according to two governmental officials,” wrote the article. Abe met with Harris at Prime Minister’s Official Residence in Tokyo on July 26^th. So, what is the contradiction?

Abe pledged that Japan would continue to make various efforts to bring about “a world free of nuclear weapons” in his address for the ceremony of commemorating the nuclear devastation in Hiroshima on August 6^th this month. “The disastrous experiences that took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki 71 years ago must never be repeated. It is the responsibility of us who live in the present to keep making efforts continually towards that end,” told Abe. Having said that, Abe cannot allow any use of nuclear weapons even for security of Japan.

Japanese officials have not clearly responded to Post’s article. However, some news sources in the government revealed their uneasiness that Japan had to keep power balance in Northeast Asia under nuclear umbrella of U.S. For them, deterrence is a matter of present and a world without nuclear weapons is something about the future. While the opposite parties in Japan criticize Abe of not supporting no-first-use policy, supporters of Abe understand possible lobbying to Obama administration.

Secret support for first use of nuclear weapons would harm sentiments of nuclear sufferers in Japan. Abe’s determination for elimination of nuclear weapons is now doubted as a big lie by hibakushas. Kyodo News reported that former Foreign Ministers of Japan and Australia and other ranked officials in Asia-Pacific region submitted Obama administration a joint statement to urge application of no-first-use policy. Obama’s determination in Hiroshima earlier this year is seriously tested.