[Title] Remarks by Dean Acheson, Secretary of State at the Ceremony for the Signing of the United States-Japanese Security Treaty

REMARKS BY THE HONORABLE DEAN ACHESON, SECRETARY OF STATE AT THE CEREMONY FOR THE SIGNING OF THE UNITED STATES-JAPANESE SECURITY TREATY

With regard to the Security Treaty we are gathered here to sign, there are several points I should like to emphasize:

First, this Treaty of Security between the United States and Japan is part of a pattern for defense of peace in the Pacific area. Taken together with the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Philippines, the Tripartite Security Pact between Australia, New Zealand and the United States, and the Japanese Peace Treaty which was signed this morning, this action adds another link in the chain of security against aggression in a most important part of the world. These treaties constitute, in the words of President Truman, "natural initial steps in the consolidation of peace" in the Pacific area.

The signing of this Security Treaty today marks the conclusion of ten days of historic importance to free peoples all over the world.

Second, the present Treaty takes its place as a part-and an important part-of the system of security which has been developed within the framework of the United Nations Charter. The Treaty is not only conceived within the spirit of the Charter; it is a fulfillment of the inherent right of individual and collective self-defense which the Charter recognizes as belonging to all sovereign nations.

Third, this Security Treaty is a voluntary arrangement between free peoples. It stems from a freely-reached decision on the part of the Japanese Government and the Japanese people to seek protection for an unarmed Japan against the threat of aggression.

Fourth, there should be no misunderstanding of the purpose of this Security Treaty. Its purpose is peace. In a world in which aggression and the threat of aggression are rampant, the maintenance of peace and security requires us to take affirmative steps to bulwark freedom with military strength. Weakness is an invitation to aggression, both external and internal. We are here providing for the defensive strength without which peace would be jeopardized. In building this strength, the present Treaty does not create a threat of further aggression. Of importance to all Japan's neighbors in the Pacific is the principle recognized in this Treaty that Japan shall avoid any armament which could be an offensive threat or serve other than to promote peace and security in accordance with the purposes and principles of the United Nations Charter.

Fifth, the defense arrangements provided for under this Treaty will constitute a shield to protect the progress being made by the Japanese people toward better conditions of life. It will give the Japanese people the opportunity to continue their constructive work of building the new peaceful Japan, free from the paralyzing threat of aggression.

Finally, this Treaty expresses the mutual trust and confidence which has been growing between Japan and the United States over the past six years. In this time, the people of Japan have had reason to be assured as to the purposes of the United States. And we, in turn, have come to the conviction that the Japanese people want no more of the old militarism, but sincerely desire real peace. The United States believes that Japan, in the spirit of trust and confidence in which this Treaty is formulated, will in due course increasingly assume responsibility for its own defense against aggression and in so doing make its contribution to the collective defense of the free world.

It is with these thoughts in mind that we welcome the opportunity to sign this Security Treaty on behalf of the Government of the United States.