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Hiroshima mayor criticizes Japanese government’s opposition to negotiations for nuclear ban treaty

by Kyosuke Mizukawa, Staff Writer

At a press conference on October 31, Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui criticized the Japanese government for voting against a resolution to start negotiations for a treaty to ban nuclear weapons, which was adopted at the First Committee of the U.N. General Assembly. Mr. Matsui said, “The Japanese government has no guts. It should abandon its policy of relying on nuclear deterrence and have the courage to take this first step toward negotiating a treaty to ban nuclear arms.”

In response to the adoption of the resolution, Mr. Matsui had already sent a letter of protest to Fumio Kishida, the minister of foreign affairs, on October 28. “Voting in favor of the resolution aligns with the wishes of the A-bomb survivors. Japan’s stance is extremely regrettable,” he stressed again during the press conference. In May, when U.S. President Barack Obama spoke during his visit to Hiroshima, he said that we must have the courage to pursue a world without nuclear weapons. Referring to that message from Mr. Obama’s speech, Mr. Matsui said that this is a critical time for the Japanese government to demonstrate that courage.

Touching on negotiations for the nuclear ban treaty, which will begin next March, Mr. Matsui also appealed to the central government to help facilitate constructive discussions with the nuclear weapon states. He said, “It is vital that we speed up discussions to ban nuclear weapons. I hope that the government will make up for the lost opportunity of its vote on the resolution.”

(Originally published on November 1, 2016)

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