Outgoing Premier Addresses UNGA

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba made a speech at General Debate of United Nations General Assembly (GA), in which he urged reform of U.N. Security Council (SC) to deal with international conflicts including Russia’s aggression to Ukraine. He also explained that recognition of the Palestine state would be a matter of time for Japan. However, a question was left behind: how an outgoing prime minister can implement it?

After announcement of resignation in early September, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party is in the campaign of presidential election to elect a successor of Ishiba. Last year, then prime minister Fumio Kishida was waiting for his replacement after his announcement of resignation weeks before. Kishida’s speech at the GA was read out by Japan’s Ambassador to the U.N. Japan sent lame-duck leaders to the U.N. for two consecutive years.

 

In his speech, Ishiba stressed necessity of reform of the SC. “A permanent member of the Security Council with a special responsibility for international peace and security has aggressed its neighbor. Russia continues its aggression against Ukraine, interpreting Article 51 of the U.N. Charter in a self-righteous way, and labeling its aggression as a right of collective self-defense,” said Ishiba.

 

Indicating that veto power was used by Russia as a tool for an aggression, Ishiba encouraged international community to take action toward expansion of the SC, citing Japan’s proposal for freezing veto power of new permanent members for fifteen years. However, Japan’s hope to join the SC has not been approved by five permanent members which have veto power. Japan’s proposal for U.N. reform is always connected to its ambition to be a permanent member.

 

Ishiba also denounced Israel’s ground operations in Gaza City, which brought extreme deterioration of human rights there. “Japan condemns these actions, which are entirely unacceptable in the strongest possible terms,” Ishiba expressed Japan’s frustration with the situation in Gaza.

 

But Japan has not announced its recognition of Palestine as a state, while over 150 countries have expressed their willingness to it. “For our country, the question is not whether to recognize a Palestinian state, but when. I must state clearly that if further actions are taken that obstruct the realization of a two-state solution, Japan will be compelled to take new measures in response,” said Ishiba. It is scheduled that Ishiba will leave his office in October. Nobody knows who will implement his words.

 

Defying international effort for illegalizing nuclear weapons through the Treaty on the Prohibitions of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), Japan insists on enhancement of Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime. In his speech, Ishiba argued that “extended deterrence provided by the United States, including nuclear deterrence, remains necessary to protect the lives and properties of our citizens.”

 

TPNW or NPT is a fundamental question in Japan. The sufferers of atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki eighty years ago expect Japanese government to participate in the TPNW. However, Japan keeps on taking distance from it, considering complaint of the U.S. Ishiba needed to settle that domestic controversy before appealing Japan’s desire for the world without a nuclear weapon.

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