Japan, Australia to release joint declaration on reducing nukes+

TOKYO, Feb. 17 Kyodo -
Japan and Australia plan to issue a declaration in which they will pledge to
jointly tackle nuclear arms reduction in the run-up to a U.N. conference to
review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in May, government sources said
Wednesday.
The declaration could be issued at a joint press conference by Japanese Foreign
Minister Katsuya Okada and his Australian counterpart Stephen Smith during
Okada's visit to Australia on Saturday and Sunday, according to the sources.
In the envisaged declaration, the two governments will primarily aim to prevent
nuclear attacks on non-nuclear armed states and to limit the role of such
weapons to nuclear deterrence.
In accordance with a report issued in December by an international panel,
headed by former foreign ministers Yoriko Kawaguchi of Japan and Gareth Evans
of Australia, the declaration will highlight bilateral cooperation in three
areas -- reducing nuclear stockpiles, nonproliferation and the peaceful
utilization of nuclear materials.
Japan and Australia envision part of the declaration will be included in the
final draft report of the upcoming NPT review conference, the sources said.
Tokyo and Canberra plan to urge nuclear powers besides Russia and the United
States, such as China, India and Pakistan, not to increase production of
nuclear warheads, they said.
The two governments have decided not to stipulate a no-first-use doctrine in
the declaration, which would restrict the use of nuclear weapons to retaliation
in the event of a nuclear attack on a state or its allies, because of
objections from the United States and concern in Japan.
Japan and Australia, two Asia-Pacific states under the U.S. nuclear umbrella,
have a history of cooperation on nuclear policy.
They took the lead in establishing the International Commission on Nuclear
Nonproliferation and Disarmament and issued a joint proposal in 2000 calling
for the early entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
==Kyodo
2010-02-17 23:35:39