NB: The following speech was delivered at the Workshop (Session 1) on North Asia on
May 3, 2002,
during the 15th World Congress of IPPNW in Washington, D.C.
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Reducing Nuclear Dangers in North Asia
By Prof. Kumao
Kaneko
Special Adviser to
Japanese Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War
at the 15th IPPNW World Congress in Washington, D.C., May 1- 5, 2002
Global overview
Nearly fifty-seven years have passed since the first atomic bombs were
dropped upon Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Those who survived the holocaust are getting old
and increasingly frustrated because their earnest prayer, shared by many other
Japanese people, that those deadly weapons will be eliminated from the earth,
is very far from being realized.
In fact, the possibility of our prayer
being realized seems to be more remote today than 12 years ago when the Cold
War ended. The possibility began eroding before the terrorist attacks on the United States
last September and even before the inauguration of Mr. Bush as president. As you recall, in October 1999 when we were
meeting in Beijing
at the Second North Asia Regional Conference, the Unites States Senate rejected
the ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT). Since then, a series of decisions have been
taken by the US Government, the decisions which run counter to the commitments
made at the 2000 NPT Review Conference. Although Mr. Bush declared his
intention to reduce American strategic nuclear weapons unilaterally down to
less than 2000, which is a welcome move by itself, he is vigorously pushing the
missile defense (MD) program. That
program seems to have gained a fresh momentum after the September 11 incident.
While we fully share the anger and anguish
of the American people about that horrible happening, we feel deeply
disappointed at the apparent lack of their enthusiasm for nuclear
disarmament. I wish to make it clear on
behalf of many concerned people in Japan
that we will continue to demand the United States and other
nuclear-weapon States to honor their obligation under Article VI of NPT,
particularly the “unequivocal undertakings” for nuclear disarmament expressed
in the resolution of the last NPT Review Conference.
At the same time, we should bear in mind
that we, private citizens of the world, have our own responsibility to do our
utmost to help create global and regional climate conducive to further progress
in nuclear disarmament negotiations among the countries concerned, no matter
how challenging it may be.
Current situation in North Asia
Turning now to the issues of our region, I
must say that we in North Asia are faced today
with no less complicated and difficult situation than elsewhere in the world.
Indeed, the political environment in North
Asia has changed drastically over the past year or so, particularly since the
inauguration of the Bush administration in the United States in early 2001. Unlike the previous administration under
President Clinton, the United States
started adopting tougher policies towards the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
The September 11 incident has further
aggravated the relationship between the United States and DPRK, as well
illustrated by President Bush calling DPRK a member of the “Axis of Evil”.
These American policy changes have
compelled South Korea
to tone down President Kim Dae-jung’s “sunshine” policy vis-a-vis the north,
and also Japan to slow down its normalization talks with DPRK. There are other knotty issues long pending
between Japan
and DPRK, including the issues of some Japanese citizens believed to have been
abducted to the north and the mysterious ship invading the Japanese sea last
December.
Most regrettably, therefore, there is no hope
of early relaxation of tension in Northeast Asia,
and no real hope of progress in the area of nuclear disarmament in the region.
In fact, our 3rd North Asia Regional Conference, scheduled to take
place in Pyongyang
in October 2001, was forced to be cancelled at the last minute.
Under such severe circumstance, what
should we, regional affiliates of IPPNW, do in order to achieve our
long-cherished goal of creating a nuclear-weapon-free North
Asia? Should we just
continue a “wait and see” attitude for the moment? No! I
do not think this is the time for pessimism or defeatism. Nor is it the time for negligence or procrastination. We should be able to explore various other
possibilities through various new venues.
New regional initiatives
One of such new venues I have in mind is to
reactivate our North Asia Regional Conference by recruiting a new regional member,
namely Mongolia. As you all know, Mongolia is a confirmed
non-nuclear-weapon State, having been recognized as such by the United Nations
several years ago. There is no doubt
that they have an excellent qualification to join IPPNW. I have always thought that we should invite
the like-minded physicians and other concerned people of that country to
establish their local chapter affiliated to IPPNW and to participate in our North
Asia Regional Conference. If this is
done, our Regional Conference will be greatly reinforced, thus making it
possible for us to launch new important initiatives towards reducing nuclear
dangers in the region. Therefore, on behalf
of the Japanese delegation, I now wish to propose that necessary actions be
taken as expeditiously as possible to invite Mongolia as our new partner in all
IPPNW activities, especially in our North Asia Regional Conference.
There can be many other ways out of the
present impasse, so long as there is a strong will to do so on our part. Let us not simply surrender to the present
situation, no matter how adverse it is. Instead,
let us reconfirm our joint commitment to create a “Nuclear-Weapon-Free North
Asia”, the noble cause which we have pursued thus far and will keep pursuing
with a greater determination in the years to come.
Thank you very much for your kind attention.
[To be delivered at the Workshop (Session 1) on North Asia on
May 3, 2002,
at Renaissance
Hotel, 999, 9th Street,
N.W., Washington,
D.C..]