Japan government not to participate in U.N. nuke ban meeting in March

The Japanese government will not participate in next month's meeting of signatories of the U.N. nuclear ban treaty in New York, Foreign Minister Takeshi Iwaya said Tuesday, despite calls to attend given Japan's history as the only country to have experienced atomic bombings.In announcing the decision to skip the five-day U.N. Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons talks from March 3, Iwaya told a press conference that nuclear deterrence under the Japan-U.S. alliance is "essential to defend our nation."Apparently with China, North Korea and Russia in mind, Iwaya stressed that Japan fac…READ FULL ARTICLE