----- Original Message ----- From: F J BERNAL <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, August 31, 2000 1:21 PM Subject: [STOPNATO] (Fwd) Japanese CP, Japan-U.S. Secret Agreements on Nuclear Wea STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.COM -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 - ------- Forwarded message follows ------- Date sent: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 06:54:00 -0500 From: SolidNet <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Japanese CP, Japan-U.S. Secret Agreements on Nuclear Weapons and Their Meaning Japanese CP, Japan-U.S. Secret Agreements on Nuclear Weapons and Their Meaning ------------------------------------------------------------ From: Japanese Communist Party <http://www.jcp.or.jp>http://www.jcp.or.jp, E-Mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ================================================= ===== Japan-U.S. Secret Agreements on Nuclear Weapons and Their Meaning The following is the text of speech (as prepared for delivery) by Shoji Niihara, Japanese Communist Party International Commission chairman, at the International Meeting of the 2000 World conference against A & H Bombs, August 2 in Hiroshima: 1. Concerning the serious suspicion about the U.S. bringing of nuclear weapons into Japan, the whole picture of the secret agreements (*1) between Tokyo and Washington finally came to light this year. Based on one of the agreements, the Japanese government gave the U.S. a free hand to maintain nuclear weapons on ships and aircraft entering into Japan, thus trampling on its own official declaration not to allow any nuclear weapon into Japan. This is proof that the Japanese government has been telling a sheer lie to the Japanese people for the last 40 years. The people were filled with rage. Nothing can depict more vividly Japan's position as a nuclear base deeply enmeshed in U.S. nuclear strategy than revelation of the existence and content of the Japan-U.S. secret agreements that were questioned successively during the Diet session in the first half of this year by Tetsuzo Fuwa, the chairman of the JCP. 2. In the 50-year history of U.S. overseas nuclear deployment policy, Japan has consistently been positioned as an important nuclear base in Asia. When the overall occupation of Japan by the U.S. came to an end, an overseas nuclear war command center was established in the central part of Tokyo at the end of 1952 (*2). This was one of the two such establishments in the whole world, with the other one located near London. In 1953, the bringing in of nuclear weapons to Okinawa and other parts of Japan started (*3). But since the Daigo Fukuryumaru (Lucky Dragon) was exposed to radioactive fallout from the H-bomb test at the Bikini Atoll, massive public opposition to nuclear weapons spread throughout Japan, and the government that had tried to openly allow the bringing in of nuclear weapons was driven to the wall by the strong protest and resistance of anti-nuclear public opinion (*4). In the World Conference against A & H Bombs that started at the exact same time, protest against and opposition to the bringing in of nuclear weapons has become a major issue, increasing in importance every year since the first conference. It has become a forum of mobilizing public opinion to prevent nuclear weapons from being brought into Japan. Faced with overwhelming public opposition to the entry of nuclear weapons, the Japanese government, in spite of its faithful cooperation with the U.S. nuclear strategy, has often been pretending in the statements that it disapprove of the bringing in of nuclear weapons. The government thus deepened its dilemma. Cornered by public opinion, the Kishi cabinet requested the U.S. government, at the negotiating table for the revision of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty at the end of 1950s, to make the bringing in of nuclear weapons subject to prior consultation. The system of prior consultation was thus introduced. The latest investigation, however, completely exposed the fact that on that occasion the Japanese and the U.S. governments signed a secret agreement on nuclear weapons that left transit of nuclear weapons by ships and aircraft outside the jurisdiction of prior consultation (January 6, 1960) (*5). This is clear evidence of the fact that the Japanese government deceived and ridiculed the people for fear of the overwhelming public opposition to the bringing in of nuclear weapons. 3. Under the secret Japan-U.S. nuclear agreements, Japan was made a base for nuclear war by the U.S. against Japan's neighbors in Asia. The secret agreement for transit of nuclear weapons is not only a problem for Japan; it is a spear pointing at the Asian people, menacing their hopes for peace. Let us take one example to show how and to what extent the system for the bringing in of nuclear weapons into Japan has been a threat to Asian countries. Eleven years ago, a serious incident that occurred in December 1965 was disclosed: an attack plane equipped with an H-bomb on the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga fell into the sea and sank off Okinawa. It was not merely a matter of an H-bomb falling into the sea. Mrs. Masayo Duus, a nonfiction writer who lives in the U.S., investigated the behavior of Ticonderoga at the time of the incident by looking into the U.S. Navy documents and other related materials (*6). She proved with clear evidence that while engaged in bombing Vietnam, using Yokosuka port as a foothold for its operations, the carrier was also preparing for possible nuclear bombing of Vietnam; that the accident in question occurred during a true-to-life practice to respond immediately to an order to take off and carry out a nuclear attack against Vietnam. Two days after the crash of the H-bomb-equipped plane into the sea off Okinawa, the carrier Ticonderoga moved into Tokyo bay and moored at the U.S. Navy base in Yokosuka. According to an inside report by the U.S. Navy, the carrier was not discharged of its nuclear attack mission during the moorage in Yokosuka. According to the diary of Lieutenant Senior Grade Douglas M. Webster, who died under water in his A4 Skyhawk equipped with the H- bomb, more than 50% of the training was for dropping nuclear bombs even while engaged in conventional bombing of Vietnam (*7). In short, an H-bomb-loaded carrier Ticonderoga, given free access to Japanese ports by the secret agreement for transit of nuclear weapons, was preparing step by step for a nuclear attack against Vietnam, using Japan as a foothold for the operation. 4. We must end the system allowing the bringing in of nuclear weapons inside the territory of Japan based on the secret agreements and realize a non-nuclear Japan in the true sense of the word as soon as possible. Although there is no fundamental guarantee for it except abrogation of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, the realization of a non-nuclear Japan that will not allow U.S. nuclear weapons into Japan is an urgent task for eliminating the threat of nuclear war from Asia. I call for activities to widely motivate public opinion for this purpose. In spite of the fact that the declassified U.S. Government Documents have revealed the secret agreements allowing transit of U.S. nuclear weapons, the Japanese government refuses to carry out any kind of investigation, but only keeps repeating, "There exist no such secret agreements." On the other hand, what the government actually does is to interfere with Kochi prefecture in every possible way to prevent it from declaring itself a "Nuclear-Free Port," following the example of the "Declaration of Nuclear-Free City" by Kobe city. While denying the existence of the secret agreements for bringing in of nuclear weapons, the government is actually doing its utmost to maintain the system for transit of nuclear weapons into Japan. Some people argue that because former President Bush announced a substantial withdrawal of tactical nuclear weapons from overseas, the issue of deployment of nuclear weapons abroad belongs to the past. It is not true. The U.S. government even now continues to store nuclear weapons in some NATO member countries in Western Europe, while it retains the system for the bringing in of nuclear weapons in case of an emergency in Japan and some other countries. Today, of all the nuclear powers, the U.S. government has the most provocative, first nuclear strike policy worldwide. At the same time, the U.S. is the only country among the nuclear powers that has an official policy to deploy nuclear weapons overseas. These things are two sides of the same coin. In recent years, the Pentagon has been strengthening its first nuclear strike policy against some non- nuclear nations and China under the approval of President Clinton. Research for development of small nuclear weapons obligated by the fiscal 2001 defense authorization bill is not irrelevant to this development. The overseas deployment of nuclear weapons is considered to be indispensable for this dangerous U.S. policy. It is urgently required that we prevent the bringing in of nuclear weapons in any way into Japan and to make Japan a non-nuclear nation in the true sense of the word. Let us rouse overwhelming public opinion. I emphasize that it is an urgent task in our effort to realize peace in Asia free from the fear of nuclear attack, and free from the threat of nuclear weapons. In order to achieve this goal, I hope from the bottom of my heart for cooperation from friends in Japan and abroad. (*Notes) 1. JCP Chairman Fuwa, in the House of Representatives debate in March and April 2000, brought up 12 declassified U.S. Government Documents including the full text of the "Record of Discussion," viz. the secret agreement on prior consultation which was initialed between Japanese Foreign Minister Aiichiro Fujiyama and U.S. Ambassador to Japan Douglas MacArthur II on January 6, 1960 in Tokyo, and he revealed important moves in relation to this, involving the Japanese and U.S. governments. Mr. Fuwa, based on these documents, questioned then Prime Minister Obuchi as well as Prime Minister Mori after the former's death, about the Japanese government's position. This was the first time that the whole picture of the Japan-U.S. secret agreements about the bringing of U.S. nuclear weapons into Japan, whose existence has been the subject of controversy for a long time, was brought to light in the Japanese Diet on the strength of the declassified U.S. Government Documents. 2. This is the Joint Coordination Center (JCC), a U.S. armed forces nuclear war command center set up at Pershing Heights, Shinjuku- ku, Tokyo, where the Headquarters of the U.S. Forces Japan was located in those days. 3. In spring 1953, surface-to-surface missiles (probably 280mm atomic cannons) were brought into Okinawa. AJ-1 Savage nuclear bombers were also brought into Atsugi Navy Air Station, Kanagawa prefecture, and Mk-7 nuclear bombs into Komaki base, Aichi prefecture. 4. On March 14, 1955, Prime Minister Hatoyama, in a press conference for foreign correspondents, asked whether he would accept a demand that Japan house atomic bombs, answered, "If we are to approve of peace by force as justifiable, then we have to accept it." (Asahi Shimbun dated March 14, 1955 evening edition). But faced with harsh protests throughout the country, the prime minister later on had no other choice but to retract the remark. 5. The secret agreement--"Record of Discussion" stipulates in Clause C of 2: "'Prior consultation' will not be interpreted as affecting present procedures regarding the deployment of United States armed forces and their equipment into Japan and those for the entry of United States military aircraft and the entry into Japanese waters and ports by United States naval vessels." This means that the traditional practice under the old Japan-U.S. Security Treaty, by which the entry, landing and departure by ships and aircraft carrying nuclear weapons to Japanese ports and airports were accepted without prior consultation, would be left as it had been even after the introduction of the prior consultation system. 6. Masayo Duus, "Submergence of an Attack Plane with an H- Bomb--Death of a top gun," published in Japanese by Kodansha Ltd., 1997, Tokyo. 7. According to the aforementioned book by Masayo Duus, Lieutenant Senior Grade Douglas Webster kept a diary while he was on board the aircraft carrier Ticonderoga. As the carrier started attacking Vietnam on November 5, 1965 with the Tonkin Gulf special operation waters as its stronghold, he wrote as follows: "I've heard so often since I got on board this carrier that the Vietnam front had greatly changed in the last several months. The military situation has become more and more serious, and in fact a far greater number of pilots than the American people are told have died in crashes....(But) take the Fifth Carrier Air Group we are on, for instance. As things stand now, we are still spending more than half of our flying exercises on those for nuclear weapons loading procedures. It looks as if the flying exercises for the essential conventional weapons are being conducted during the intervals" (re-translated from Japanese). ** The 12 declassified U.S. Government Documents (re-typed) and JCP Chairman Fuwa's report at a gathering about this problem are printed in Japan Press Weekly Special Issue--August 2000. Many Japanese Communist Party documents which have been translated into English are provided by Japan Press Service Co. Ltd. The Central Committee of the Japanese Communist Party 4-26-7 Sendagaya,Shibuya-ku,Tokyo 151-8586 E-mail:[EMAIL PROTECTED] *End* - ------- End of forwarded message ------- -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: N/A iQA/AwUBOa5NvkY4L8gv88U8EQL3fgCggaobhh61PqiFw8AjD/QUUHI8lMoAoLPl FFrKcAONOZZD7n5M/I6qsKso =1bGI -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb
