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On December 3, Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano commented on the approval by the United Nations General Assembly of a resolution calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons. This resolution had been jointly sponsored by the Japanese government and the US administration of President Barack Obama, who has been calling for the realization of a “world without nuclear weapons”. Hirano said, “As the only nation to have been the victim of a nuclear attack, Japan finds the approval of the joint resolution by the United Nations extremely welcome and gratifying. The fact that the feelings of President Obama and of Japan toward nuclear weapons have taken shape in the form of a joint motion, and that this has been approved by the United Nations is a great step forward.”
The resolution welcomed the recent heightened movement toward the abolition of nuclear weapons, and expressed the determination to take realistic and effective measures toward a world without nuclear weapons. Japan has submitted this resolution every year since 1994, but this is the first time that the United States has acted as a joint sponsor.
Hirano went on to comment on Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima’s statement that if the current plan regarding the transfer of the facilities at Futenma airbase is implemented, her party may leave the coalition government, saying, “We have to accept that as the position of her party.” He went on to say that the coalition has been formed based on a three-party agreement, and that it would be necessary to consider and discuss the issue in the light of that agreement. Hirano said this issue was currently being discussed with the United States, and that due importance was being placed on the coalition during these discussions. He went on to add that the government intended to come to a resolution based on the three-party agreement and the need to reduce the burden on the residents of Okinawa prefecture.
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