Japan will not sign the United Nations Nuclear Ban Treaty based on geopolitics
Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker
Modern Tokyo Times
Japan is protected by the nuclear umbrella of the United States. Hence with Northeast Asia being a major area of competing militaries that have nuclear weapons, then naturally Japan refuses to join the banning of nuclear weapons.
Indeed, the lofty ideals of the United Nations (UN) in banning nuclear weapons is rather ironic. After all, all permanent members of the UN are nuclear powers. This relates to America, China, France, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom.
For Japan, this nation can’t escape the geopolitical reality of Northeast Asia. Thus, with America having bases in Japan and South Korea respectively, it means that America, China, North Korea, and the Russian Federation all have nuclear options if a major war broke out.
Katsunobu Kato, the Chief Cabinet Secretary, said, “We believe, given the increasingly difficult security environment surrounding Japan, it is appropriate to make steady and realistic progress toward nuclear disarmament while maintaining and strengthening our deterrence capabilities to deal with threats.”
Japan may share the goals of the nuclear weapons ban but realism dictates. Indeed, you have never had a major war between two nuclear powers. Therefore, a stalemate persists even if tensions on the Korean Peninsula exist.
In a past article by Modern Tokyo Times, it was stated, “It goes without saying that America’s nuclear umbrella protects Japan during the worst-case scenario. Equally, with American bases throughout the country – notably in Okinawa – then being protected by one of the two main nuclear powers in the world negates sentiment.”
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