Hiroshima City mayor reports on TPNW states parties meeting and declares that Japan should have attended
Jun. 30, 2022
by Yu Kawakami, Staff Writer
At a press conference on June 29, Hiroshima City Mayor Matsui Kazumi delivered his report on the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which was held in Vienna, Austria. On the Japan national government’s decision to not attend the meeting as an observer, Mr. Matsui emphasized his strong feeling that the government should have taken part in the opportunity to participate in the deliberations that transpired at the meeting.
In addition to formally speaking at the meeting, Mr. Matsui met with a representative of Norway, a country that is expected to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is a group widely considered to be a nuclear alliance. According to the mayor, who asked why that nation had decided to attend the TPNW meeting as an observer, the Norwegian official replied that despite the difficulties Norway faces ratifying the TPNW, the constructive discussions at the TPNW meeting were important.
Mr. Matsui said at the press conference, “I hope Japan’s government will understand how important it was to attend the TPNW meeting to make concrete steps forward to realize a world without nuclear weapons.” He also expressed his intent to continue calling on the government to participate in the second TPNW states parties meeting, scheduled to be held in New York City in the United States sometime next year between November and December.
(Originally published on June 30, 2022)
At a press conference on June 29, Hiroshima City Mayor Matsui Kazumi delivered his report on the First Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which was held in Vienna, Austria. On the Japan national government’s decision to not attend the meeting as an observer, Mr. Matsui emphasized his strong feeling that the government should have taken part in the opportunity to participate in the deliberations that transpired at the meeting.
In addition to formally speaking at the meeting, Mr. Matsui met with a representative of Norway, a country that is expected to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is a group widely considered to be a nuclear alliance. According to the mayor, who asked why that nation had decided to attend the TPNW meeting as an observer, the Norwegian official replied that despite the difficulties Norway faces ratifying the TPNW, the constructive discussions at the TPNW meeting were important.
Mr. Matsui said at the press conference, “I hope Japan’s government will understand how important it was to attend the TPNW meeting to make concrete steps forward to realize a world without nuclear weapons.” He also expressed his intent to continue calling on the government to participate in the second TPNW states parties meeting, scheduled to be held in New York City in the United States sometime next year between November and December.
(Originally published on June 30, 2022)
