Will Japan realise the dream?

April 26, 2015

EDITORIAL: NPT conference should carve out path to freeing world of nuclear weapons

April 27, 2015

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/views/editorial/AJ201504270013

A quinquennial Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), where officials from about 190 countries will discuss nuclear disarmament and other related issues, is set to open April 27.

The conference is being held at a time when little headway is being made in freeing the world from nuclear arms and, on the contrary, the global situation concerning atomic weaponry is taking a turn for the worse.

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We hope the conference will set a path forward for dispelling dark clouds.

The previous review conference, held in 2010, adopted a final document that contained a 64-item action plan, including concrete steps for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. But little progress has been achieved during the past five years to materialize the contents of that document.

Consider the strategic nuclear arms of the United States and Russia, the world’s two major nuclear powers. A treaty to reduce those arms by 30 percent took effect in 2011, but souring bilateral relations have stalled their subsequent talks.

Russia went so far as to hint at possible use of its nuclear weapons, adding to a sense of uncertainty surrounding the matter.

Iran has reached a framework agreement with the United States and some other countries over the longstanding issue of its nuclear development program. On the other hand, an international meeting toward the denuclearization of the Middle East, whose staging was promised in the previous review conference, is not even expected to take place anytime soon because countries concerned have yet to reach an agreement.

India and Pakistan, two countries that are not signatories to the NPT, are strongly suspected to be increasing their nuclear arms. North Korea, which has declared its withdrawal from the NPT, is also continuing to implement nuclear testing.

How should we put the brakes on this trend?

We place our hopes on an ongoing move to have nuclear arms banned under international laws as a gateway to a possible breakthrough. This idea has rapidly been gaining currency with non-nuclear powers after the final document of the previous review conference explicitly mentioned the “inhumanity of nuclear weapons.”

The United States and Britain participated in an international conference held in Vienna late last year under the theme of inhumanity. But the world’s nuclear powers, which see their atomic arsenals as key to their security, are set firmly on opposing a ban on nuclear arms.

Austria, which hosted the conference, released a document calling for identifying and pursuing “effective measures,” ahead of the review conference, toward the goal of banning nuclear weapons.

If step-by-step nuclear disarmament, being advocated by nuclear powers, has yet to make any progress, it would be natural to seek an alternative, more effective approach. We hope the nations will seek common ground instead of turning their backs on discussions.

It is lamentable that Japan, which relies on the “nuclear umbrella” of the United States, is taking a negative stance toward outlawing nuclear weapons.

Japan, which holds a special position as a country that has suffered atomic bombings, has been considered as a potential go-between to bridge nuclear and non-nuclear powers.

If things remain as they are, however, Japan could obstruct a trend for the abolition of nuclear weapons instead of fulfilling the role it is expected to play.

More than 30 atomic bomb survivors are visiting the United States to coincide with the review conference.

Masakazu Saito, who, at 90, is the oldest among them, says, “I will call for eliminating nuclear arms as long as I am alive.”

We hope that countries, particularly Japan, will act positively to realize the dream.

--The Asahi Shimbun, April 26