Tab I
Letter From President Reagan to Japanese Prime
Minister Nakasone4
Washington, November 24, 1982
Dear Mr. Prime Minister:
The Law of the Sea treaty adopted by the United Nations Conference
last April raises many fundamental concerns for the United States.
In July, as you know, I concluded that signing that treaty will not
serve the national interest.
I recognize that the treaty deals with a wide variety of areas and
issues. Indeed, my July statement noted that most provisions of the
treaty are consistent with the interests of the United States and
other
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countries.5 Based on a review of significant
interests, such as those with respect to military and commercial
navigation, I am confident that they can be fully protected without
signing or ratifying the treaty.
At the same time, I also believe that the deep seabed mining
provisions of the treaty would be detrimental to the interests of a
number of countries, including the United States and our close
friends and allies. Development of deep seabed resources on an
economic basis would be very difficult, if not impossible, to
achieve under the treaty. In broader terms, the treaty would create
precedents that are contrary to a range of important interests and
that would adversely affect the positions of advanced countries in
the future development of international institution-building
generally.
These problems are of deep concern to the United States and to me
personally. I believe it is very important that we work together to
have a clear understanding of the consequences of the Law of the Sea
treaty and to coordinate our efforts in a way that will serve our
common interests.
For this reason, I have asked Don
Rumsfeld to serve as a special emissary to discuss
these matters with you and with other key allies. He has my fullest
confidence and I trust that you will consider him to be my personal
emissary in regard to the matters I have asked him to raise with
you.6
Finally, let me say that while Law of the Sea is the issue which has
led me to propose Don’s mission, I view it within the context of our
broader relationship as allies faced with a number of problems.
While each of them has its complexities, I believe deeply that we
are capable now, as perhaps never before, of solving them and of
demonstrating a degree of allied cohesion unparalleled in the past
generation. For this reason, Don will be receptive to listening to
other elements of our common agenda. Needless to say, I will value
your thoughts greatly and very much look forward to receiving Don’s
report.
With warm personal regards,
