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Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki urge foreign minister to support statement banning nuclear weapons

by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui and Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue visited Japan’s foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, at the Foreign Ministry on March 23 and urged him to support the statement calling for a ban on nuclear weapons which Austria has distributed to the member states of the United Nations. Mr. Kishida, who is from Hiroshima’s first district, did not clearly respond whether or not Japan will back this document.

Although the Japanese government has staked out the stance of not endorsing the statement, it has not yet officially announced its position. Mr. Matsui emphasized that the document is consistent with the policy of both the foreign minister and Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Mr. Taue urged Mr. Kishida to support the statement because a deadline (for example, the immediate banning of nuclear weapons) has not been specified.

The Austrian government distributed the document in anticipation of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference, which will start on April 27. In response, the Japanese government proposed a draft agreement for the review conference referred to as the Japan-led Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI).

Mr. Kishida stressed that the draft agreement of the NPDI should be the platform from which a consensus can be formed at the review conference. He said only that the response to the document submitted by Austria will be examined in the consensus forming process.

The United States has urged other countries not to endorse the document sent by the Austrian government in order to maintain the nuclear umbrella. After the meeting, Mr. Taue said, “Being protected by the U.S. nuclear umbrella prevents Japan from taking the initiative. Japan should take a new step toward a world without nuclear weapons.”

(Originally published on March 24, 2015)

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