Tokyo: The lower house Foreign Affairs
Committee today decided to summon former senior Foreign Ministry officials as witnesses to clarify alleged Japan-US secret pacts.
While those to be called to the House of Representatives
panel will include former vice foreign ministers as well as
former treaties bureau chiefs, it will be decided soon who
among them will be summoned and when.
It is believed the two countries concluded secret
agreements, including one that Tokyo would allow US military
vessels carrying nuclear weapons to sail or make port calls in
Japanese territory without engaging in the required prior
consultation process with the United States.
The government under the Liberal Democratic Party had
consistently denied the existence of the secret pacts,
however, current Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada of the
Democratic Party of Japan has launched a probe on them
and an expert panel is expected to reveal its investigation
report.
PTI
First Published: Wednesday, March 03, 2010, 15:32