Friday, October 19, 2012

Japan and the Nuclear Umbrella



Fukushima Diary has the story concerning Japan's unwillingness to sign a nuclear weapons ban
http://fukushima-diary.com/2012/10/japan-rejected-signing-to-ban-nuclear-weapon-in-un/

Source: http://www.47news.jp/CN/201210/CN2012101801001519.html

I used google translate: http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=auto&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.47news.jp%2FCN%2F201210%2FCN2012101801001519.html&act=url

Draft statement 16 countries of the United Nations Commission rejects Japan, the signature outlawed nuclear 10/18/2012 47NEWS > Kyodo News Articles More>

[Excerpted] Prepare a draft statement that prompted the "strengthening of efforts to outlaw nuclear weapons" to the stage (disarmament) First Committee of the United Nations General Assembly being held in New York, 16 countries that emphasize the inhumanity of nuclear weapons, such as Norway and Switzerland has been approached to sign in Japan, 18, I found that the Japanese government has decided to reject. Japanese government officials have revealed more than one.
 
Because it is a policy that depends on the defense in the "deterrence", including the nuclear forces of the United States, Japan is that if you agree with the draft statement aimed at outlawing nuclear, theoretically, not be consistent in policy the reason. It's a dress that was not tuned to express opinions that are concerned about the impact of the "nuclear umbrella", the government is the only exposure to emphasize the inhumanity of nuclear weapons.
 

Majia here: On July 10 I posted the following:

Hmmm....Japan's Collective Self Defense is Looking Ever More Like Nuclear Defense http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/hmmmjapans-collective-self-defense-is.html

July 11, 2012: Noda seeks Japan's right to exercise collective self-defense. Asahi Shimbun http://www.asahi.com/english/TKY201207100264.html

[Excerpt] Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda expressed his willingness to allow Japan to exercise the right of collective self-defense, an issue that could further split the ruling party but would likely find support from the main opposition party.  

Majia here: I am reposting an excerpt from an article I looked at a couple of weeks ago now as it has relevance for Japan's "right to exercise collective self-defense":

Mainichi: Atomic energy law's sly alteration is abuse of legislative process
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20120626p2a00m0na004000c.html
[excerpted]
"The Atomic Energy Basic Law was amended in the shadows of the hoopla surrounding the three-party agreement on a tax hike. The new clause allows the possibility of nuclear armament open to interpretation. It was an underhanded deal, in which an amendment to the Atomic Basic Law was merely incorporated into the appendix of a law on the establishment of a nuclear regulatory panel....

....Only at a meeting of an upper house environmental committee on June 20, when a DPJ lawmaker questioned whether nuclear arms development was the purpose of passing the bill, did it become public that a clause in the Basic Law had been revised.....
....the appendix in question adds a sentence stating Japan's atomic energy policy should contribute to national security.

What constitutes "national security?"....A deputy press secretary of South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has also said that the ministry is "watching the situation closely."....

...."
It probably comes down to the Rokkasho Reprocessing Plant," said a bureaucrat with whom I've been acquainted for years. "If the country moves toward the abandonment of nuclear power, that facility will lose meaning. If it is legally granted legitimacy as a facility for the military use of nuclear materials, then it can continue to exist. I believe that there were LDP lawmakers who thought of that, and bureaucrats who supported them...

...The Atomic Energy Basic Law went into effect in 1955, the same year that the LDP was founded. Fifty-seven years have since passed, and we are moving further and further away from democratic, independent and public disclosure principles. (By Takao Yamada, Expert Senior Writer)

Majia here: Japan's collective self defense is looking ever more like nuclear defense. 

See My blog post on Japan's stockpiling of plutonium
http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/06/why-does-japans-plutonium-stockpiling.html 

 

MY POST ABOVE ALSO INCLUDES A DETAILED ANALYSIS THAT I'M NOT PASTING HERE OF JAPAN'S HISTORICAL INTEREST IN plutonium

http://majiasblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/hmmmjapans-collective-self-defense-is.html 

 

ADDITIONALLY, READ COUNTERPUNCH'S LATEST:

October 17, 2012 Japan’s Right: Going Nuke?  by CONN HALLINAN http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/10/17/japans-right-going-nuke/ 

 

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