(Please check
against delivery)
At The First
Committee of the 69th Session
of the General Assembly
- Thematic Debate:
Nuclear Weapons -
20 October 2014,
New York
Mr. Chairman,
As
the only country to have suffered atomic bombings during the war, Japan has
firmly committed itself to strive for realizing a world without nuclear weapons,
and strongly believes that the tragedy
caused by the nuclear weapons must never be repeated. We believe that
attaining this goal requires taking realistic and practical measures in a
progressive manner with the engagement of nuclear-weapon States. This, so
called building blocks approach, has gained support gradually from the
international community.
As one of these ongoing efforts, Japan, along with many co-sponsors, has once again submitted to this
Committee a draft resolution, entitled “United action towards the total elimination of nuclear weapons”, which, we believe, provides a
standard-setting on a wide-range of issues related to nuclear disarmament and
non-proliferation. We strongly hope that all UN
Member States extend their support to this resolution.
Japan, together
with other members of the Non-Proliferation
and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI) has promoted implementation of the Action Plan in the 2010 NPT
Review Conference. The NPDI Foreign Ministers issued
the “Hiroshima Statement” this April, which was a fruitful product agreed by
twelve members. The diversity of views, I believe, is the strength of our
group, which can play a crucial role to form consensus among various states and
regional groups. This document could thus provide a middle ground for entire
international community on various contentious issues.
Mr. Chairman,
While welcoming the
unilateral and bilateral reduction of nuclear warheads taken by some nuclear-weapon
States to date, such as France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and
the United States, they should evolve to multilateral negotiations on all types
of nuclear arsenals involving all five nuclear-weapon States (N5). We urge all
nuclear-weapon States, therefore, to take “effective measures” as required by
Article VI of the NPT. In this regard, Japan welcomes the N5 process, the most
recent of which was held in Beijing in March and will
again take place in London early next year to build confidence amongst themselves,
and welcomes, as an initial step, the fact that N5 commonly reported the
implementation of their disarmament commitments to the 3rd NPT
PrepCom this year. Since
transparency is an essential foundation for irreversibility and verifiability
of nuclear disarmament, Japan urges N5 to continue to report with
more numerical information and further enhance their transparency and their
standard reporting form particularly by incorporating elements, notably
numerical ones, as suggested in NPDI’s draft standard
reporting form that was submitted at the 2012 NPT PrepCom. Japan also looks
forward to concrete outcomes regarding glossary, which the N5 has been working
on under the Chinese chairmanship. Japan hopes these achievements will pave the
way towards future, but not so distant future, negotiations for N5 multilateral
disarmament.
At the same time,
as N5 carry out their tasks, the non-states parties to the NPT should not
remain on the side-lines. Japan urges these states to accede to the NPT as
non-nuclear-weapon States while encouraging them to immediately start reducing
their arsenals and eventually eliminate them.
Mr. Chairman,
The CTBT is an indispensable component towards a
world free of nuclear weapons, and it needs to be brought into
force as soon as possible. We are encouraged that China has started sending its
International Monitoring System (IMS) data to the International Data Centre
(IDC) in Vienna. Japan has seized every occasion to urge all States that have
not yet signed nor ratified the Treaty, particularly the remaining eight Annex II States, to promptly do so. In this regard,
“Friends of the CTBT” organized the Seventh CTBT Ministerial Meeting in New
York and adopted a joint ministerial statement calling for early entry into
force of the CTBT. Also, we stress the importance of Integrated Field Exercise
14, to be held in Jordan in November this year. Pending the entry into force of
the Treaty, it is important for all states possessing nuclear weapons to continue
to respect the moratorium on nuclear testing.
Japan is convinced that an FMCT is one of the most practical building
blocks for nuclear disarmament. It is thus deeply regrettable that there are no emerging
prospects in the Conference on Disarmament (CD) for negotiations
commencing on such a treaty. We welcome the work of the GGE on an FMCT, and strongly hope the
outcome of the group will give a new momentum and help the CD begin its
substantive work.
The establishment of
nuclear-weapon-free zones that meet the certain criteria set out in the 1999
UNDC Guidelines contributes to global and regional peace and security. Japan regrets the Conference on the
establishment of a Middle East WMD Free Zone has still not been held. Despite
this disappointing situation, we commend the facilitator and co-covenors for their
efforts to consult broadly with all relevant stakeholders and we call for the
earliest possible convening of a successful conference with all parties in the
Middle East to participate in the spirit of genuine and constructive
cooperation. In addition, we welcome the signature of the N5 to the Protocol to
the Central Asia Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty on 6 May 2014 and commend their
efforts to enable themselves to sign the Protocol of the Southeast Asia Nuclear-Weapon
Free Zone Treaty.
Mr. Chairman,
In parallel with
nuclear disarmament, it is important to strengthen and maintain nuclear
non-proliferation to enhance peace and security. Therefore, full implementation
of nuclear non-proliferation obligations by the all non-nuclear weapon states
is vital for our shared goal.
The
DPRK’s on-going nuclear and missile development is of grave concern not only to
Northeast Asia but to the whole international community. Japan once again
hereby stresses that the DPRK must abandon all nuclear weapons and
existing nuclear programs, including its uranium enrichment, in a complete,
verifiable, and irreversible manner and must immediately suspend all related
activities. Japan strongly urges the DPRK to take concrete actions towards
denuclearisation and to refrain from any further provocative acts.
As for the
Iranian nuclear issue, Japan hopes that the on-going negotiation between EU3
plus 3 will lead to a final and comprehensive solution. Japan fully supports
the role of IAEA in this issue and we urge Iran to implement relevant measures,
in particular, the ones related to Possible Military Dimensions.
Mr. Chairman,
Finally, in order to foster momentum for achieving a world free
of nuclear weapons, Japan places great emphasis on the significance of
spreading awareness of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences across
borders and generations. We will continue to fulfill
our special mission to convey to the world the facts and reality of the
devastation caused by the use of nuclear weapons. The catastrophic humanitarian
impact of nuclear weapons should underpin all efforts to succeed in our
non-proliferation efforts and to achieve nuclear disarmament in pursuit of a
more secure world, particularly through the NPT. Furthermore, it should be
inclusive as well as universal and serve as a catalyst for a united global
action towards our common goal. In this regard, we were encouraged by the Cuban
Ambassador’s statement in the CD on behalf of G21 this September, which stated that
the full realization of the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons must
underpin all approaches towards nuclear disarmament, through an inclusive
process involving all States. It was a clearly shared position among these countries.
With this in mind, Japan
supports the spirit of the two joint statements delivered during this committee
by Australia and New Zealand on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons, and
we have joined them. We also firmly maintain the Japan-U.S. Security
Arrangements, and reaffirm the
necessity to continue to employ an appropriate national security policy in line
with the backdrop of an increasingly severe security context surrounding us.
I would like to conclude my statement by
stressing that Japan is fully committed to achieving a peaceful and
secure world free of nuclear weapons. We will continue to steadily promote
effective building blocks for global nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation
in close cooperation with all other UN Member States.
Thank you.