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タイ在住11年目、妻はタイ人、娘が2人、養女が2人

--The Asahi Shimbun, Nov. 6
（社説）国連核決議　核保有国との溝埋めよ
EDITORIAL: Japan needs more robust diplomatic strategy to unite nuclear and non-nuclear powers

The recent vote on a Japan-proposed United Nations resolution on nuclear weapons highlighted anew the deep rift between nuclear powers and non-nuclear nations.
　核兵器を持つ国と持たぬ国の対立がまたもあらわになった。

The resolution calling for action to eliminate nuclear arms, submitted to the U.N. General Assembly’s First Committee, which deals with disarmament and security issues, was adopted with the support of 156 countries. But China and Russia voted against the resolution, while the United States, Britain and France abstained.
　国連総会の第１委員会で、核兵器廃絶への行動を呼びかける日本提案の決議案が１５６カ国の賛成で採択された。中ロは反対し、米英仏が棄権した。

In the latest resolution, Japan encouraged leaders of the world to visit “the cities devastated by the use of nuclear weapons” as a way to emphasize the inhumane nature of nuclear weapons. This seems to be one of the reasons why the resolution failed to win the backing of the nuclear powers.
　今回の決議で日本は指導者らの被爆地訪問を促し、核の非人道性に、より焦点をあてた。これが核保有国の賛同を得られなかった一因のようだ。

The argument that nuclear arms should be banned by an international treaty because nuclear attacks have inhumane consequences has been rapidly gaining support among nations without these weapons.
　核兵器が非人道的な被害を及ぼす以上、条約で禁じるべきだという主張は、近年、非核保有国の間で急速に支持を広げている。

The Japan-drafted resolution doesn’t mention the need of a nuclear ban treaty. But the vote shows that nuclear powers are wary of the claim that nuclear weapons are inhumane by nature. This was clear from the unexpected moves by the United States and two other Western nuclear powers to abstain from the vote.
日本の決議案は禁止条約の必要性にまでは触れていない。だが非人道性に対する核保有国の警戒感が強く、米国まで棄権する予想外の展開となった。

Following the failure of the May meeting of the Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons to agree on a final document, the refusal by the nuclear powers to support the resolution came as another sign of a disturbing stagnation in the nuclear disarmament movement.
　最終文書をまとめられなかった５月の核不拡散条約（ＮＰＴ）再検討会議に続き、核軍縮はますます停滞の兆しだ。

The resolution was drafted by Japan in line with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s desire to establish “a guide for future nuclear disarmament efforts suitable for the 70th anniversary of the atomic bombings (of Hiroshima and Nagasaki).”
　日本の決議案は、安倍首相が「被爆７０年にふさわしく、今後の核軍縮の指針に」としてのぞんだものだ。

One question that should be asked is whether Japan made sufficient efforts to win the support of nuclear powers for the document prior to the vote. 事前に核保有国の理解を得る努力は十分だったか。

This setback has underscored the tough challenges facing Japan’s diplomatic strategy for promoting the reduction of nuclear arms, a cause that is especially important for the nation as it has suffered devastating nuclear attacks.
被爆国として重要な外交政策である核軍縮を進める上で、課題を突き付けられた形だ。

Nations possessing nuclear arsenals have been reiterating that a gradual reduction in nuclear arms is the only path toward a nuclear-free future.
　核保有国は「段階的な核軍縮だけが廃絶への唯一の道」と繰り返す。

Their argument is based on the view that rapid cuts in nuclear arms, which constitute the core of their security strategies, would only endanger stability in the world.
核は安全保障の根幹であり、急激な削減は世界の安定を乱す、との考え方だ。

A quarter-century since the end of the Cold War, however, there is no prospect of substantial progress toward the elimination of nuclear arms with more than 10,000 nuclear warheads still remaining in the world. The international community has been growing increasingly frustrated with this situation.
　だが冷戦終結から四半世紀を経ても１万数千発の核兵器が存在し、核ゼロへの展望が開けないことに、国際社会はいらだちを募らせている。

It is glaringly obvious that nuclear arms are inhumane by nature and should never be used again.
　核兵器が非人道的であり、二度と使ってはならないことは明らかだ。

There is no hope for the abolition of nuclear arms unless the nuclear powers abandon their dependence on the threat of the weapons for their security.
その脅しで安全を保つ考えを核保有国が改めていかない限り、核廃絶は望めない。

The Japanese government has pledged to play a role in bridging the gap between nuclear powers and non-nuclear countries.
　日本政府はこれまで「核保有国と非核保有国の橋渡し役を目指す」といってきた。

But the reality is that Japan has been reluctant to change its policy of depending heavily on the protection of the U.S. “nuclear umbrella.”
　だが、日本は米国の「核の傘」に閉じこもる姿勢をとってきたのが現実ではなかったか。

Japan had previously abstained from the vote on a resolution calling for a ban on nuclear arms proposed by Austria and other countries, bitterly disappointing victims of the atomic bombings.
オーストリアなどが提案した核兵器の禁止を求める決議案に、日本は棄権に回り、被爆者を失望させた。

Even if it is difficult for Japan to immediately wean itself from the protection afforded by the U.S. nuclear umbrella, there are ways it can contribute to the cause. Japan can, for example, get more actively involved in the international efforts to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and the Middle East to reduce the role of nuclear arms in security. Japan should strive to lead the campaign for a reduction in nuclear arms through such efforts.
　核の傘から直ちに脱却するのが難しくとも、朝鮮半島や中東などの非核化にもっと積極的に関与して核の役割を下げ、核軍縮への機運を主導するため努力していく。それが日本のとるべき道ではないか。

To give momentum to the stagnant nuclear disarmament movement, it is vital to take more effective steps to close the rift between nuclear powers and non-nuclear nations.
　再び核廃絶への潮流を起こすには、核保有国と非核保有国の間の溝を埋めていくしかない。

Japan has a responsibility to keep recounting its suffering from the atomic bombings to make the world understand the consequences of nuclear attacks.
　日本には被爆の経験を世界に訴える責任がある。

Tokyo should take the outcome of the vote on the resolution as a signal for the need to review its diplomatic strategy for promoting the reduction of nuclear arms.
今回の決議の採決結果を、核軍縮外交を練り直すきっかけとしたい。