Active diplomacy by mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki for nuclear abolition
May 10, 2010
by Yumi Kanazaki and Kohei Okata, Staff Writer, dispatched from New York
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue, who are in New York for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, have both been engaged in active "city diplomacy." The mayors have made repeated appeals to the United Nations Secretariat and governments of the world for nuclear abolition. They also paid a visit to a New York community and called for close networking at the local level.
Both mayors went to Harlem, New York with other members of Mayors for Peace to attend a reception organized by an NGO on the evening of May 6.
The reception was organized by Japanese nationals residing in the United States, who were aware of the visit by the mayors. To the local residents, Mayor Akiba said that he would like the A-bomb survivors to see a world free of nuclear weapons, and Mayor Taue remarked that he hopes he can tell the generation of his future grandchildren that his own generation was successful in eliminating nuclear weapons. These comments by the mayors were greeted with strong applause.
Yasmin McFarlane Vohn, a lawyer and nearby resident, said that war, poverty, and violence are cruelties inflicted on human beings by other human beings, and that the use of nuclear weapons, in particular, is the greatest cruelty. She added that nuclear weapons must be abolished.
At U.N. Headquarters, a meeting for creating a nuclear weapon-free zone for Northeast Asia, organized by NGOs in Japan and South Korea, was held. Mayor Taue, who attended the meeting, said that the nuclear umbrella should be transformed into the non-nuclear umbrella.
Ebine Yaunori, the mayor of Fujisawa, Kanagawa, and Osamu Takeuchi, the mayor of Hirakata, Osaka, who are visiting the United States as representative of the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities, also attended the meeting. Both Mayor Ebine and Mayor Takeuchi separately expressed their resolve for nuclear abolition.
(Originally published on May 8, 2010 )
Related articles
Mayors for Peace seeks to step up campaign in pursuit of nuclear abolition (May 7, 2010)
March in New York numbers 10,000, with A-bomb survivors, to appeal for a nuclear-free world (May 7, 2010)
Hiroshima Mayor Tadatoshi Akiba and Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue, who are in New York for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, have both been engaged in active "city diplomacy." The mayors have made repeated appeals to the United Nations Secretariat and governments of the world for nuclear abolition. They also paid a visit to a New York community and called for close networking at the local level.
Both mayors went to Harlem, New York with other members of Mayors for Peace to attend a reception organized by an NGO on the evening of May 6.
The reception was organized by Japanese nationals residing in the United States, who were aware of the visit by the mayors. To the local residents, Mayor Akiba said that he would like the A-bomb survivors to see a world free of nuclear weapons, and Mayor Taue remarked that he hopes he can tell the generation of his future grandchildren that his own generation was successful in eliminating nuclear weapons. These comments by the mayors were greeted with strong applause.
Yasmin McFarlane Vohn, a lawyer and nearby resident, said that war, poverty, and violence are cruelties inflicted on human beings by other human beings, and that the use of nuclear weapons, in particular, is the greatest cruelty. She added that nuclear weapons must be abolished.
At U.N. Headquarters, a meeting for creating a nuclear weapon-free zone for Northeast Asia, organized by NGOs in Japan and South Korea, was held. Mayor Taue, who attended the meeting, said that the nuclear umbrella should be transformed into the non-nuclear umbrella.
Ebine Yaunori, the mayor of Fujisawa, Kanagawa, and Osamu Takeuchi, the mayor of Hirakata, Osaka, who are visiting the United States as representative of the National Council of Japan Nuclear Free Local Authorities, also attended the meeting. Both Mayor Ebine and Mayor Takeuchi separately expressed their resolve for nuclear abolition.
(Originally published on May 8, 2010 )
Related articles
Mayors for Peace seeks to step up campaign in pursuit of nuclear abolition (May 7, 2010)
March in New York numbers 10,000, with A-bomb survivors, to appeal for a nuclear-free world (May 7, 2010)
