Japan to Skip Nuke Ban Treaty Meeting Again

   Tokyo, Feb. 18 (Jiji Press)--Japan will not participate as an observer in the third meeting of signatories to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in New York in March, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tuesday.
   The Asian country was also absent from the past two meetings, held in June 2022 and November 2023. Japan made the latest decision because it has to rely on extended deterrence, including the U.S. nuclear umbrella, amid the increasingly severe security environment surrounding the country.
   The Japan Confederation of A- and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, or Nihon Hidankyo, which won the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize, and Komeito, a ruling coalition member, had strongly requested Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to realize Japan's participation as an observer in the March 3-7 meeting.
   The government's decision against the attendance may draw criticism from many members of the public and Komeito, with both calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons, and have an impact on the Ishiba administration. Komeito allies with Ishiba's Liberal Democratic Party.
   "Qualitative and quantitative nuclear arms expansion is progressing around Japan," Iwaya told a news conference, explaining why Tokyo will be absent.

(2025/02/18-22:09)

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