Kan repeats the need for ‘nuclear deterrence’ in Nagasaki, ignoring Hibakusha’s protest

Japan Press Weekly

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Kan repeats the need for ‘nuclear deterrence’ in Nagasaki, ignoring Hibakusha’s protest

“All are upset by your remarks affirming the need for nuclear weapons on the day when the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the rest of Japan and the world console the spirits of those who died in the 1945 atomic bombings”, Masabayashi Katsuki, chair of the Nagasaki A-bomb Bereaved Association, said to Prime Minister Kan Naoto on August 9.

Representatives of Hibakusha’s organizations in Nagasaki met with the prime minister and protested his remarks about the need of “nuclear deterrence” in Hiroshima on August 6. They said: “I was pleased to hear your speech saying that Japan has a moral responsibility to lead in actions toward the elimination of nuclear weapons. However, I was surprised at your remark saying that ‘nuclear deterrence is necessary’”; “Your hypocrisy is unacceptable. I can’t trust you”; “What is difference is there between you and former Prime Minister Aso? Your statement should be retracted.”

After the meeting with Prime Minister Kan, Nagasaki Council of A-bomb Sufferers Chair Taniguchi Sumiteru said, “It’s unforgivable to make the human body a plaything. The government and statesmen should look again the horrific lessons learned from the atomic-bomb dropped over Nagasaki.” Even after the talks with Hibakusha, however, Kan said again to the press that “nuclear deterrence” is necessary. He said, “I hope a world depending on no nuclear deterrence. However, so long as nuclear weapons are not eliminated, I can’t help considering it (nuclear deterrence) as necessary.”

Prime Minister Kan’s remarks threw cold water on the globally increasing call for “a world without nuclear weapons.”

- Akahata, August 10, 2010