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核持ち込み 政府は密約の存在を認めよ

The Yomiuri Shimbun(Jul. 1, 2009)
Govt should admit secret N-deal with U.S.
核持ち込み 政府は密約の存在を認めよ(7月1日付・読売社説)

It is no longer possible for the government to maintain its official stance of denying the existence of a deal between Japan and the United States that tacitly allows U.S. forces to bring nuclear weapons into Japanese territory. The time has come for the government to admit the existence of this accord and explain the facts surrounding it to the public.
 米軍の核持ち込み容認の密約はないとする政府見解の維持は、もはや困難だ。政府は、密約の存在を認め、国民に事実関係を説明すべき時だ。

In a recent interview with news media, including The Yomiuri Shimbun, Ryohei Murata, a former administrative vice foreign minister, revealed the existence of the accord between the Japanese and U.S. governments under which Japan tacitly approves port calls and passage through Japanese territorial waters by U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons.
 日本は、核兵器を搭載した米軍艦船の日本への寄港や領海通過を黙認する――。そうした日米両政府の「秘密の了解」の存在を、村田良平・元外務次官が報道機関のインタビューで明らかにした。

When the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty was revised in 1960, the two countries agreed that U.S. forces would only bring nuclear weapons onto Japanese soil if prior bilateral consultations were held.
 1960年の日米安全保障条約の改定時に、米軍の核兵器の持ち込みは、両国が事前に協議する対象と定められた。

However, while this applied to the deployment or storage of nuclear weapons at U.S. bases in Japan, it has long been speculated that the two countries reached a secret deal to exempt port calls, stopovers and passage through Japanese territorial waters and airspace by U.S. warships and aircraft carrying nuclear weapons from the bilateral consultation rule.
 一方で、陸上の米軍基地への配備や保管と異なり、艦船・航空機の寄港・立ち寄りや通過は、事前協議の対象外とする密約の存在が以前から、指摘されていた。

The government has consistently denied the existence of a secret accord, but it should seriously consider the fact that a former top bureaucrat of the Foreign Ministry, who had direct knowledge of the secret accord within the ministry, has admitted its existence.
 日本政府は一貫して否定しているが、密約の引き継ぎに直接関与していた外務省の事務方トップがその存在を認めた事実は重い。

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Cold War confrontation

Around 1960, in the midst of the Cold War, the general public of this nation was strongly allergic to all things nuclear, and there was constant confrontation between the conservative and progressive sides of politics.
 東西冷戦下の60年当時、日本では、政治的な保革対立に加えて、一般国民の核アレルギーも強かった。

Therefore, it can be seen in some ways unavoidable that the government concluded a secret accord with Washington, with an eye on national security in the event of military emergency.
政府が、有事における安全保障の観点から密約を結んだのは、やむを得ない面もあったろう。

It is right and proper that secrets associated with diplomatic negotiations be kept if a country is to maintain mutual trust with its partner.
 外交交渉に伴う機密を守るのは、相手国との信頼関係を維持するためにも、当然のことだ。

However, nearly half a century has passed since then and the situation both at home and abroad has dramatically changed.
 だが、半世紀近くが経過し、国内外の状況は大きく変化した。

On the U.S. side, former U.S. Ambassador to Japan Edwin Reischauer and others have, in the past, revealed the contents of the secret accord to the media. Many U.S. official documents that include mention of the deal have been publicly disclosed.
 米側では、ライシャワー元駐日大使ら関係者が密約の内容を証言した。密約を詳細に裏付ける公文書も多数公開されている。

In Japan, after the collapse of the so-called 1955 regime, which saw a political polarization with the Liberal Democratic Party on one side and the Japan Socialist Party on the other right through to 1993, the environment is becoming ripe for a comprehensive debate on national security.
 日本でも、自民、社会両党主軸の55年体制が崩壊し、より健全な安全保障論議ができる環境が整いつつある。

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Review nonnuclear principles

Any continuation by the government of its labored attempts to hide the existence of the secret deal is not in line with national interests. Rather, maintaining the line that there is no deal can only bring negative effects as it would, for example, damage public trust in the government's handling of diplomatic and national security policies.
 これ以上無理を重ねて、密約を否定し続けることが、国益に沿うとは言えまい。むしろ、政府の外交・安保政策に対する国民の信頼を損ねるなど、マイナス面の方が大きいのではないか。

If the government is to review the secret accord, it will inevitably be required to revisit its long-standing three nonnuclear principles of not possessing, not producing and not allowing nuclear weapons on this nation's soil.
 密約を見直せば、核兵器を「持たず、作らず、持ち込ませず」とする非核三原則のあり方にも踏み込まざるを得ないだろう。

However, while it is appropriate to maintain the principles of not possessing or producing nuclear weapons, the government should be given free rein to review, in a considered manner, the principle of not allowing nuclear weapons on the country's soil.
 核兵器の保有と製造の禁止を継続するのは妥当だとしても、「持ち込ませず」は、冷静に議論し直していい。

Temporary port calls and passage through Japanese territorial waters by U.S. warships carrying nuclear weapons are significantly different in their implications to the deploying and storing of nuclear weapons on the ground.
陸上への配備や保管と、一時的な寄港や領海通過では、意味合いが相当異なる。

Japan is faced with growing security concerns due to both the increasingly serious nuclear and missile threat posed by North Korea and China's rapid military buildup.
 北朝鮮の核とミサイルの脅威が深刻化し、中国の軍備増強が急速に進むなど、日本の安全保障環境は厳しさを増している。

To enhance the nation's deterrent ability under the U.S. nuclear umbrella, it is important that U.S. forces be allowed to operate flexibly in the event of a military emergency. The government must tackle the debate on nuclear weapons with no subject considered taboo.
 米国の「核の傘」による抑止力を高めるには、有事の部隊運用の柔軟性が重要だ。タブーにとらわれない核論議が求められる。

(From The Yomiuri Shimbun, July 1, 2009)
(2009年7月1日01時53分 読売新聞)
by kiyoshimat | 2009-07-01 09:48 | 英字新聞

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by kiyoshimat