ABSTRACT
The rationale for Japan's involvement in the 6PT, hosted by China in Beijing since August 2003, just as it was for Japan's research and testing on a Theatre Missile Defense (TMD) system, has been North Korea's development of its nuclear weapons and associated missile program. Japan is also concerned about plans by Russia and Kazakhstan to create an energy club linking suppliers and consumers of hydrocarbon resources within the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO). Japan's Kansai Electric Power Co, Nuclear Fuel Industries Ltd, and trading house Sumitomo Corp jointly signed an accord in 2007 with the Kazakh state-owned nuclear firm Kazatomprom for processed uranium to fuel Kansai's nuclear power plants. When China and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) announced in November 2001 their intention to conclude a Free-Trade Agreement (FTA) within 10 years, as previously described, it came as a major shock to Japan.
