A Japanese draft resolution calling for the abolition of nuclear weapons that for the first time refers to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings received overwhelming approval Monday from a U.N. General Assembly committee but failed to secure endorsement from the United States and other key powers.
Japan has been spearheading efforts in the First Committee, which deals with disarmament issues, to introduce resolutions on nuclear arms every year since 1994, with all of them having been backed by the General Assembly.
This year's resolution also came under vehement attack from a Chinese envoy who argued that its mention of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, devastated by U.S. atomic bombings, attempts to portray Japan as a victim of World War II.