An Emergency Policy Appeal signed by 39 members of the Emergency Policy Council of the Japan Forum on International Relations was announced on February 20, 2003. The appeal calls on Japan to support the position and actions of the United States on the Iraqi crisis and urges Japan to strengthen its cooperation with the United States on the North Korean crisis.
The Forum has made its voice known on several occasions. In 2001, it reiterated the need to conclude a peace treaty between Japan and Russia on the basis of the return to Japan of the Russian-occupied four islands known as Northern Territories. In 1993, in the final stage of the Uruguay Round of the GATT talks, the Forum called on Japan to save the Uruguay Round by opening up its rice market to imports.
The following is an official translation of the full text of the Appeal on the Iraqi crisis and the list of the names of the 39 politicians, businessmen, and academics who signed it.
[The Iraqi and North Korean Crises Are Linked] As the time for a possible U.S. attack on Iraq draws near, North Korea is stepping up moves to arm itself with nuclear weapons. We must now ponder on what is the national interest of Japan and what is the course that the international community should take. We support the position and actions of the United States on the Iraqi crisis, and insist on strengthening cooperation between Japan and the United States in dealing with the North Korean problem. These two crises are linked, and it depends on how we will deal with the Iraqi crisis whether we will be able to resolve the North Korean crisis.
[Possession of WMD by "Rogue States" Cannot Be Condoned] The first thing that we want to make clear is our fundamental position that we cannot condone the development and deployment of WMD by the so-called "Rogue States". The September 11 terrorist attacks underscored the threat of international terrorism. If WMD fell into the hand of international terrorists, the thereat would be immeasurable. The international community has no other choice but to use military force as a last resort when the threat cannot be removed through peaceful means. Those who merely shout "antiwar" slogans, or say as if they are onlookers that "Iraq is wrong, but the use of force by the United States is equally wrong", abandon their own standpoint and commit the mistake of not distinguishing between night sticks and murder weapons. In 1998, Iraq refused the WMD inspections under the authority of the U.N. Security Council Resolution 687, the Gulf War cease-fire resolution. The Resolution 1441, adopted last November, gave Iraq the "last chance" for compliance. Iraq is required to prove its compliance, but is far from having done so.
[We Should Give Clear-cut Support to the United States] The second thing that we want to make clear is our unshaken confidence in the Japan-U.S. Alliance. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the entry of Central and Eastern European countries into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the threat to Germany and France from the east has almost disappeared. It can be said that freedom of action for both countries has expanded to that extent. In contrast, North Korea's moves to go nuclear are heightening regional tension in Northeast Asia. If the international community fails to disarm Iraq, North Korea will further escalate its nuclear development program. It is inevitable that the emergence of a nuclear–armed nation on the Korean Peninsula would threaten Japan's security and restrain her diplomacy. Some Japanese insist that Japan should exercise "independence" in its diplomacy by keeping a distance from the United States, as Germany and France are doing. But there is a big difference between the circumstances involving Germany and France and the situation in which Japan finds itself. The Japan-U.S. Alliance stands at the crossroads. At no other time but this, Japan should give clear-cut support to the United States by her independent judgment. It is both illogical and inequitable for Japan to demand that the United States should take a tough stance towards the North Korean crisis while opposing the U.S. use of force against Iraq.
Given the deteriorating world situation, we, the 39 members of the Japan Forum on International Relations who have signed herein, express our views and appeal to the Japanese people.
February 20, 2003, Tokyo
| TAKUBO Tadae | Professor, Kyorin University |
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| AICHI Kazuo | Chairman, Japanese Economic Research Foundation |
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| AKIYAMA Masahiro | Chairman, Ship & Ocean Foundation |
| EBATA Kensuke | Defense Commentator |
| HATTORI Yasuo | Vice Chairman, Seiko Epson Corp. |
| HAKAMADA Shigeki | Professor, Aoyama Gakuin University |
| ICHIKAWA Isao | Executive Advisor for Financial Affairs, Keio University |
| IMAI Ryukichi | Director, Institute for International Policy |
| IMAI Takashi | Chairman, Japan Forum on International Relations |
| INOGUCHI Takashi | Professor, The University of Tokyo |
| ISHII Koichiro | former Chairman, Bridgestone Cycle Corp. |
| ITO Kenichi | President & CEO, Japan Forum on International Relations |
| JIMBO Ken | Research Fellow, Japan Institute of International Affairs |
| KAKIZAWA Koji | Member of the House of Representatives |
| KANAMORI Hisao | Advisor, Japan Center for Economic Research |
| KANEKO Kumao | Director, Japan Forum on International Relations |
| KIMURA Takayuki | former Ambassador to the European Union |
| KITAOKA Shinichi | Professor, The University of Tokyo |
| KOIKE Yuriko | Member of the House of Representatives |
| KURODA Makoto | President, Center for Information on Security Trade Control |
| MORIMOTO Satoshi | Professor, Takushoku University |
| MURATA Ryohei | Executive Adviser, The Nippon Foundation |
| NAGANO Shigeto | President, Japan Forum for Strategic Studies |
| NAKANISHI Terumasa | Professor, Kyoto University |
| NASU Shoh | Advisor, Tokyo Electric Power Co. |
| NASUDA Takashi | Chairman, Namiki Shobo |
| NISHIIO Kanji | Professor Emeritus, University of Electro-Communications |
| OGASAWARA Toshiaki | Chairman & Publisher, The Japan Times |
| OKAZAKI Hisahiko | Director, Okazaki Institute |
| OKONOGI Masao | Professor, Keio University |
| OSANAI Takayuki | Foreign Policy Critic |
| SAITO Akira | Senior Deputy Managing Editor, The Yomiuri Shinbun |
| SASSA Atsuyuki | former Director General for Cabinet Security Affairs Office |
| SAWA Hidetake | Critic |
| SHIKATA Toshiyuki | Professor, Teikyo University |
| SHIMADA Haruo | Professor, Keio University |
| UNO Kimio | Professor, Keio University |
| YAYAMA Taro | Political Commentator |
| YOSHIDA Haruki | President, Yoshida Labo for Economics and Industry |