Japan reluctant to accept proposal for U.S. to reduce role of nukes

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TOKYO, Sept. 13 Kyodo -
Japan has expressed its reluctance to accept a proposal that urges the United
States to limit the role of nuclear weapons to deterring only nuclear attacks
and that seeks a no first-strike commitment in a draft report compiled by an
international panel on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament, panel sources
said Sunday.
Japan's representative to the International Commission on Nuclear
Nonproliferation and Disarmament expressed reservations about the proposal due
to concerns over a weakening of the U.S. nuclear umbrella, the sources said.
The commission, established at the initiative of Australia and Japan, aims to
reinvigorate international efforts on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.
It is co-chaired by former Japanese and Australian foreign ministers -- Yoriko
Kawaguchi and Gareth Evans.
The draft document envisages U.S. President Barack Obama working out a new
nuclear doctrine before the review conference of parties to the nuclear
nonproliferation treaty which is scheduled to be held next May.
It says that the ''sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons is to deter use of
nuclear weapons against the United States and its allies.''
Japan has agreed to the principle of reducing the role of nuclear weapons but
has expressed reservations not just about the specific proposal but also the
suggested timetable and sequence or weapons reduction, the sources said.
Japan is arguing for Washington to maintain its broad nuclear deterrence
apparently due to concerns about possible biological and chemical attacks from
North Korea, they added.
The Japanese commission member said, ''From a Japanese defense perspective,
there are two concerns under current security circumstances in East Asia for
the time being,'' according to the sources.
''First, limiting the role of nuclear deterrence in preventing nuclear attack
may give the wrong signal to North Korea or other 'rogue states' which may have
a different strategic (escalation) calculation. To deter such threats, the
credibility of nuclear deterrence would remain important.
''Second, a no-first-use declaration by the United States without a reduction
in threat would undermine the security of Japan, or at least it would raise the
sense of uncertainty and anxiety over security.
''In light of the reality that China has been rapidly catching up in air and
sea power balance...in addition to the rapid modernization of its nuclear
capability, no-first-use should be come after or along with the commitment of a
tangible nuclear threat reduction in the region,'' the report quoted the
Japanese commission member as saying.
The Japanese representative's opposition apparently reflects the will of
successive Japanese governments led by the Liberal Democratic Party that have
put priority on the maintenance of the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
However, the Democratic Party of Japan, which will soon form the next
government, has shown a more positive stance on nuclear disarmament and could
influence discussions at the panel, the sources said.
They said the commission discussed the report at its meeting in Moscow in
mid-June.
The draft report calls for early U.S. statements on nuclear doctrine before May
2010 and says the ''sole purpose of U.S. nuclear weapons is to deter use of
nuclear weapons against the United States and its allies and (possibly) that
the United States is willing to consider moving in combination with other
nuclear armed states to a clear no-first-use posture.''
In the Moscow meeting, Japanese representative Kawaguchi and a Japanese adviser
who is a former senior Foreign Ministry official took exception to an early
implementation of a new U.S. nuclear doctrine, arguing that various conditions
have yet to be satisfied.
Before the Moscow session, they also sent a message to the Japanese and
Australian foreign ministries which serve as the commission's co-secretariat,
expressing concerns about military threats from North Korea and China.
One non-Japanese panel member said Kawaguchi was strongly opposed to the
proposal but no other members were sympathetic with her. Kawaguchi declined to
comment on details, only saying that commission members are discussing, from a
multilateral point of view, how to satisfy conditions for the principle of
no-first-use of nuclear arms.
The draft report also took up a range of short-, medium- and longer-term action
agendas.
On a short-term action agenda to 2012, it calls for resolving North Korean and
Iranian nuclear issues for a new U.S.-Russian strategic arms reduction
agreement by the end of 2009.
On a medium-term agenda to 2025, it proposes getting to the ''vantage point for
zero'' and calls for ''progressive resolution of issues relating to missile
delivery systems and missile defense, and issue of space-based weapons
systems.''
On a longer-term action agenda beyond 2025, it calls for ''getting to zero,''
citing, ''Effective verification, effective enforcement of compliance, agreed
arrangements for managing civil nuclear energy in a world without nuclear
weapons, agreed arrangements for managing nuclear expertise in a world without
nuclear weapons.''
It also proposes establishing conditions for the world's five major nuclear
powers plus India, Pakistan and Israel to complete elimination of nuclear
weapons.
The panel is scheduled to adopt its final report at its next meeting in
Hiroshima in October.
The 15-member International Commission on Nuclear Nonproliferation and
Disarmament held the first meeting in Sydney in October 2008.
Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and then Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo
Fukuda agreed in July 2008 to establish the commission. Among other commission
members are former Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, former
Indonesian Foreign Minister Ali Alatas, former U.S. Defense Secretary William
Perry, Carnegie Moscow Center director Alexei Arbatov, and former Chinese
Ambassador to the United Nations Wang Yingfan.
Kawaguchi served as Japan's foreign minister under Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi between 2002 and 2004.
==Kyodo