×

News

Japanese foreign minister to speak on nuclear disarmament at opening ceremony of “Hiroshima Round Table”

by Jumpei Fujimura, Staff Writer

It was announced on July 23 that Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida will attend the opening ceremony of the “Hiroshima Round Table.” At this roundtable meeting organized by the Hiroshima prefectural government, which will take place on July 29 and 30, experts from home and abroad will seek a way forward in the effort to realize the abolition of nuclear weapons. Mr. Kishida, who was elected from district one in Hiroshima, will make a speech entitled “Vision and Action for a World without Nuclear Weapons.”

In this speech, Mr. Kishida will share his vision for eliminating nuclear arms, with a focus on the inhumanity of these weapons, and specific steps to advance nuclear disarmament. The speech will last about ten minutes, which is longer than any other address on nuclear disarmament Mr. Kishida has made to date as foreign minister.

In April 2014, Hiroshima will host the foreign ministerial conference of the Non-Proliferation and Disarmament Initiative (NPDI), which is composed of ten non-nuclear weapon states. This conference will produce a concrete action plan in preparation for the 2015 Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference. Mr. Kishida’s speech will be linked to the Japan-led NPDI proposals. “From Hiroshima to the world, I would like to send out a message of Japan’s positive stance toward nuclear disarmament,” he commented.

The Hiroshima Round Table is the first project of the prefecture’s “Hiroshima for Global Peace” plan. Researchers and politicians from five nations, including Japan and the United States, will gather in Hiroshima and exchange views on the theme of nuclear disarmament in East Asia.

    ◇

On July 23, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida flew from Japan to Israel, the first stop on a Middle East tour. During the five-day tour to promote the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, he will visit Israel, autonomous Palestinian areas, and neighboring Jordan.

(Originally published on July 24, 2013)

Archives