Japan let US nuke ships dock in port
Source: Agencies |
March 10, 2010, Wednesday
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JAPAN confirmed for the first time yesterday the existence of once-secret Cold War-era pacts with the United States that tacitly allowed nuclear-armed warships to enter Japanese ports in violation of Tokyo's postwar principles.
While declassified US documents had confirmed such 1960s agreements, yesterday's revelation broke with decades of official denials.
The investigation by a government-mandated panel is part of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's campaign to rein in the power of bureaucrats and make his government, which was elected to power last year, more open than that of the long-ruling conservatives, who repeatedly denied the existence of such pacts.
"It's regrettable that such facts were not disclosed to the public for such a long time, even after the end of the Cold War era," said Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.
The panel examined documents surrounding four pacts, including Tokyo's tacit permission that US nuclear-armed warships could make calls at Japanese ports - a violation of Japan's so-called three non-nuclear principles not to make, own or allow the entry of atomic weapons.
There is strong aversion to nuclear weapons in Japan, the only country to suffer atomic bombings - in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Speculation about the existence of such secret agreements have been swirling in Japan for years so the panel's findings most likely will simply confirm public suspicions rather than shock or anger people. Some are also aware of US documents about these matters.
Analysts welcomed the move as a positive step toward more transparency in the Japanese government but said it probably won't revive the sagging popularity of Hatoyama's government or affect US-Japan ties, which have grown strained recently because of a dispute about relocating a key Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa.
"It's a good thing for Japanese democracy, given that the previous governments have been telling blunt lies to the public," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.
Under a security alliance, 47,000 American troops are stationed in Japan, and the US protects the country under its nuclear umbrella.
Okada said it was possible that before 1991, when the US stopped carrying battle-ready nuclear weapons, US warships might have had nuclear weapons as they entered Japanese waters or ports.
While declassified US documents had confirmed such 1960s agreements, yesterday's revelation broke with decades of official denials.
The investigation by a government-mandated panel is part of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's campaign to rein in the power of bureaucrats and make his government, which was elected to power last year, more open than that of the long-ruling conservatives, who repeatedly denied the existence of such pacts.
"It's regrettable that such facts were not disclosed to the public for such a long time, even after the end of the Cold War era," said Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada.
The panel examined documents surrounding four pacts, including Tokyo's tacit permission that US nuclear-armed warships could make calls at Japanese ports - a violation of Japan's so-called three non-nuclear principles not to make, own or allow the entry of atomic weapons.
There is strong aversion to nuclear weapons in Japan, the only country to suffer atomic bombings - in Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
Speculation about the existence of such secret agreements have been swirling in Japan for years so the panel's findings most likely will simply confirm public suspicions rather than shock or anger people. Some are also aware of US documents about these matters.
Analysts welcomed the move as a positive step toward more transparency in the Japanese government but said it probably won't revive the sagging popularity of Hatoyama's government or affect US-Japan ties, which have grown strained recently because of a dispute about relocating a key Marine base on the southern island of Okinawa.
"It's a good thing for Japanese democracy, given that the previous governments have been telling blunt lies to the public," said Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University in Tokyo.
Under a security alliance, 47,000 American troops are stationed in Japan, and the US protects the country under its nuclear umbrella.
Okada said it was possible that before 1991, when the US stopped carrying battle-ready nuclear weapons, US warships might have had nuclear weapons as they entered Japanese waters or ports.
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