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RENGO Statements and Views

Statement on the “Japan-U.S. Joint Statement” on the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT)

21 January 2022

1. Request for Concrete Action Based on the Statement
On January 21, the Governments of Japan and the United States released the Japan-U.S. Joint Statement on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) (Hereinafter, “Statement”). This is the third NPT statement since 2009 and 2015. This Statement recognizes that the NPT is essential for the prevention of the proliferation of and the total elimination of nuclear weapons and requests all parties to the NPT to contribute to a meaningful outcome at the next NPT Review Conference. The Statement also made the first ever reference to China, calling for greater transparency in nuclear capabilities and progress in nuclear disarmament. JTUC-RENGO strongly urges Japan and the United States to take concrete actions based on this statement.

2. We Look Forward to a Visit to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by World Political Leaders
Before the Statement was issued this year, on January 3, the five countries, the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France, all of which possess nuclear weapons, issued a joint declaration stressing their commitment to nuclear disarmament with the words “There is no winner in a nuclear war.” The Statement welcomed the announcement of the joint declaration by the five nuclear powers and urged world political leaders to visit Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We believe that it is extremely important for political leaders to face up to the reality of the devastation caused by nuclear weapons in the cities where the A-bombs were dropped in order to advance nuclear disarmament.

3. The International Community Must Unite to Halt Nuclear Weapon and Missile Development by North Korea
The Statement also clearly notes that Japan and the United States are deeply committed to achieving a verifiable and irreversible dismantlement of all North Korean nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. At the beginning of this year, North Korea launched a total of six missiles toward the Sea of Japan four times within a short period of time. This series of actions by North Korea is absolutely unacceptable. We call on the international community to make a concerted effort to immediately halt all actions by North Korea related to nuclear tests and ballistic missile programs and to insist that North Korea fully implement U.N. Security Council resolutions.

4. JTUC-RENGO will Continue to Make Efforts toward the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons
In preparation for the postponed NPT Review Conference in April 2020, the three organizations, JTUC-RENGO, GENSUIKIN and KAKKIN, took action to gather “10 million Signatures for the Abolition of Nuclear Weapons,” submitting over 8.24 million signatures to the United Nations and the Japanese government. Going forward, JTUC-RENGO, in cooperation with other related organizations, will continue to take every opportunity to raise public opinion toward the abolition of nuclear weapons and to make broad appeals to the international community regarding the tragic experience of bombing by nuclear weapons through peace actions in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as through the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) and other organizations.

Hideyuki Shimizu
General Secretary
Japanese Trade Union Confederation