U.S. Gives First Formal Defence Pledge To Japan

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29108, 21 January 1960, Page 11

U.S. Gives First Formal Defence Pledge To Japan

(N.Z. Press Association—Copyright)

WASHINGTON, January 19.

The United States gave its first formal defence pledge to Japan today and agreed to regard an armed attack on Japanese territory as a danger to its own peace and security. The American commitment, “to meet the common danger in accordance with its constitutional provisions and processes,” was made in a treaty of mutual cooperation signed at the White House this afternoon.

The ceremony, in the ornate East Room of President Eisenhower’s official residence, took place shortly after the President conferred on international problems with the Prime Minister of Japan (Mr Kishi).

Mr Eisenhower looked on as Mr Kishi and the United States Secretary of State (Mr Christian Herter) put their signatures to a document which called for close defence and economic co-opera-tion for the next decade between the two antagonists of World War 11. Hailed by officials as a milestone in relations between the two countries, the treaty granted the United States the right to continue to occupy military bases in Japan for the purpose of contributing to the security of Japan and the maintenance of international peace and security of the Far East. 10-year Treaty The treaty will run for 10 years on ratification by the United States Senate and the Japanese Parliament, and then will remain in force indefinitely unless either party gives one year’s notice of termination.

The new pact replaces a security treaty signed along .with the

treaty of peace in San Francisco in 1951.

That agreement did not formally bind the United States to defend Japan. Japan complained that it was an unsatisfactory security guarantee which did not fully reflect its post-war sovereignty, and the United States agreed in 1957 to negotiate the new treaty to emphasise Japan’s equal role in joint defence and economic ventures in the Far East. Mr Kishi said in a prepared statement that the conclusion of the treaty was a significant and historic occasion. He added: ‘The new treaty . . . constitutes the basic structure of partnership between our countries and a basis for effective co-opera-tion not only in the field of security, but also in the broader political and economic fields.” Noting that Japan and the United States had made their first diplomatic contact just over a century ago, Mr Kishi commented that both countries should devote their efforts to making their partnership a living and dynamic instrument for peace under justice and freedom and for human progress throughout the world. Key Clause The key clause in the new treaty defined the area to be defended as “the territories under the administration of Japan.” This committed Japan to act in the event of an armed attack on its territory, but did not call for a response in the event of an attack on the United States itself or on American forces outside the treaty area. President Eisenhower said that Japan and the United States had established “an indestructible partnership” with the signing of their new security treaty.

Speaking at the signing ceremony in the White House, the President said that relations between the two countries were based on complete equality and mutual understanding. Noting that Japan and the United States opened diplomatic relations 100 years ago, the President observed: “It is my fervent hope that the new treaty signed to-day will usher in a second hundred years of prosperity and the peace in freedom which the peoples of our countries and of all countries so earnestly desire.”