Photo/Illutration Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry in an interview with The Asahi Shimbun in November 2017 (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Perry and others urged Japanese political party leaders in a letter not to oppose a policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons expected to be declared by the U.S. government.

The letter noted that senior Japanese government officials in April expressed opposition to the plan.

Twenty-six groups and individuals in the United States, including Perry and the Federation of American Scientists, on Aug. 9 sent an open letter to Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and seven other leaders of Japanese political parties.

In the letter, they asked the leaders to declare that they will not oppose a declaration of a no-first-use policy by the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden.

The Biden administration has been reported to be considering declaring a no-first-use policy in its Nuclear Posture Review to be completed in 2022 to reduce the risk of nuclear war.

"It would be tragic if Japan, the only country to suffer nuclear attacks, and a staunch advocate of the abolition of nuclear weapons, blocked this small but important step toward the abolition of nuclear weapons," the letter reads.

The administration of former U.S. President Barack Obama also considered adopting a no-first-use policy, but abandoned the plan, apparently due to the concern that U.S. allies "might develop their own nuclear weapons."

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