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Foreign ministers’ meeting prior to next year’s summit to be held in Hiroshima

by Osamu Kido, Staff Writer

Meeting will mark first visit to city by foreign ministers of U.S., U.K. and France

On June 26 the government announced that it had decided to hold the foreign ministers’ meeting that will take place ahead of the Group of Seven summit (Ise Shima summit) in Hiroshima. The summit is scheduled for May of next year. The finance ministers’ meeting is to be held in Sendai. By holding the foreign ministers’ meeting in Hiroshima, the government hopes to build momentum for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It will be the first time for the Secretary of State of the United States, the nation that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, and the foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and France, both nuclear nations, to visit Hiroshima.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe made the announcement at a Cabinet meeting. At a press conference following the Cabinet meeting, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida stressed the significance of the foreign ministers’ meeting. “Hiroshima, which recovered from the atomic bombing, is a symbol of peace and hope,” he said. “It is an appropriate place for the foreign ministers of major powers to have frank discussions and to convey a desire for world peace and prosperity and hope for the future.”

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, who also attended the press conference, expressed his hopes for the meeting saying, “This will be a good opportunity for many world leaders to learn about the reality of the atomic bombing.” Having the U.S. Secretary of State visit Hiroshima is also believed to be intended to publicize the reconciliation between Japan and the U.S.

Mr. Kishida, who represents Hiroshima District No. 1, said that he had made repeated requests at international meetings for world leaders to visit Hiroshima, including at this spring’s review conference for the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty. He called on the Japanese government to make such a request in the review conference’s final document, but China objected and it was deleted from the draft.

Holding the finance ministers’ meeting in Sendai is intended to highlight the city’s recovery from the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

Both Hiroshima and Sendai were proposed as sites for the summit, but both were rejected. Along with Hiroshima Prefecture and other entities, the City of Hiroshima asked the government to hold the foreign ministers’ meeting in the city. With regard to the meetings of ministers other than the foreign and finance ministers, Mr. Suga said, “I’d like to hold them in as many of the cities that would like to have them as possible, keeping regional development in mind as well.” He said he would continue to work with other countries on the issue.

On June 26 the government also announced the formation of the Ise Shima Summit Preparatory Committee to be headed by Kazuhiro Sugita, Deputy Chief Cabinet Secretary.

Opportunity to learn about the reality of the atomic bombing

Comments by Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui: “I’m very happy and honored. I hope the foreign ministers will take this opportunity to see for themselves the reality of the atomic bombing, to recognize the preciousness of peace and to firmly resolve to eliminate nuclear weapons. If they convey that resolve to the world, we can move a step or two closer to nuclear abolition. I will continue to ask that the world leaders also visit Hiroshima at the time of the summit.”

Need for shared awareness of inhumanity of nuclear weapons

Comments by Hiroshima Governor Hidehiko Yuzaki: “This is highly significant and an honor. I hope it will provide an opportunity to consider how to build peace. A shared awareness of the inhumanity of nuclear weapons on the part of the foreign ministers will form the basis of the effort to eliminate nuclear weapons. I would like them to have opportunities to hear the stories of atomic bomb survivors and to visit the Peace Memorial Museum.”

Keywords

Ise Shima summit
The Ise Shima summit is a summit of world leaders that will be held in the City of Shima in Mie Prefecture on May 26 and 27 next year. Japan will serve as chair. In light of the situation in Ukraine, the 2014 and 2015 summits were held as G-7 summits without the participation of Russia and were attended by Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Canada. Next year, Japan plans to hold at least eight ministerial meetings in conjunction with the summit, including meetings of the foreign and finance ministers. The summits, which began in 1975, are held annually and focus primarily on economic issues. In recent years, foreign affairs, security and the environment have also been major topics of discussion.

(Originally published on June 27, 2015)

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