More than 100 local assemblies in Japan have called on the central government to join the U. N. nuclear weapons ban passed last year, according to a Kyodo News tally compiled Sunday. The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has so far resisted the treaty due to Japan’s reliance
More than 100 local assemblies in Japan have called on the central government to join the U. N. nuclear weapons ban passed last year, according to a Kyodo News tally compiled Sunday.
The administration of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has so far resisted the treaty due to Japan’s reliance on the United States’ nuclear umbrella amid growing threat from North Korea’s nuclear and missile development.
Beatrice Fihn, executive director of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, told representatives of nine political parties and the government in an open forum last week that Japan needs to abandon its defense policy relying on the umbrella of U. S. nuclear deterrent, calling it an “outdated” theory based on the threat of actual use of nuclear weapons.
The Japanese government has said it is sitting out of the treaty, citing the need for U. S. nuclear deterrence to “protect the lives and properties of Japanese citizens in the face of growing and realistic nuclear threat from North Korea.”
“Nuclear deterrence did nothing to stop North Korea’s nuclear ambitions. Instead, it has fueled it,” Fihn said in Tokyo.
At least 112 municipal assemblies and one prefectural assembly have sent written opinions to the Diet pushing for the signing and ratification of the treaty, according to the secretariats of both parliamentary chambers and local assemblies.
Of these, 16 called for Japan to become an observer state to the treaty in preparation for full membership. Most were also addressed to Abe.
