During Australian Prime Minister John Howard's visit to Japan this week, Japan will be pressing him to sign the Association of Southeast Asian Nations' 1976 Treaty of Amity and Cooperation (TAC), which is often referred to as a "nonaggression pact."
Japan seems to find it hard to understand why Australia sees hooks in signing this treaty, such as possible complications with ANZUS, Australia's alliance with the United States. After all, the Japanese will say, since TAC has been signed by U.S. allies Japan and South Korea, what is Australia's difficulty?
In fact, the problem relates to a subject Japan doesn't want to talk about -- nuclear weapons. That's because such discussion might expose the contradictions in Japan's own nuclear policies. Japan claims to want to see nuclear weapons abolished, yet it shelters under the U.S. nuclear umbrella. While Japan can shield such sensitive issues from public debate, Australia cannot.