August 8, 2011
Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on August 7 in Nagasaki City exchanged opinions with Nagasaki City Mayor Taue Tomihisa about common efforts needed to get negotiations for an international treaty banning nuclear weapons started.
Referring to the United Nations General Assembly in December 2010 adopting a resolution proposed by Malaysia for starting negotiations for an international convention to ban nuclear weapons with the support of 133 countries, Shii said that the voices calling for the start of negotiations are increasing in Japan as well as abroad.
Mayor Taue added that Mayors for Peace’s protocol calling for eliminating nuclear weapons by 2020 is based on the assumption that international conferences for nuclear weapons elimination will be held.
Shii’s criticism of the Japanese government for abstaining from the vote on the resolution led to the Nagasaki mayor’s comment that the atom-bombed government of Japan should act with due responsibility.
As to the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, Shii said that the movement for eliminating nuclear weapons and the movement for zero nuclear power plants share a call that there should be no more victims of radiation contamination.
Referring to a change taking place in public perception since the Fukushima accident, the mayor of Nagasaki City said that the people are beginning to understand that the danger of radiation was not “an event that took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the past but that it is linked to the present as well as to the future of all of humanity.”
The mayor said that municipalities declaring themselves nuclear-free are calling for support to declaring Northeast Asia a nuclear-free zone, and that in Japan alone more than 100 municipalities have supported the call.
Shii said that six nuclear-free zones exist in the world, covering most of the southern hemisphere. Shii stressed that nuclear-free zones are important because they are directly linked to the demand for nuclear weapons elimination.
Referring to the United Nations General Assembly in December 2010 adopting a resolution proposed by Malaysia for starting negotiations for an international convention to ban nuclear weapons with the support of 133 countries, Shii said that the voices calling for the start of negotiations are increasing in Japan as well as abroad.
Mayor Taue added that Mayors for Peace’s protocol calling for eliminating nuclear weapons by 2020 is based on the assumption that international conferences for nuclear weapons elimination will be held.
Shii’s criticism of the Japanese government for abstaining from the vote on the resolution led to the Nagasaki mayor’s comment that the atom-bombed government of Japan should act with due responsibility.
As to the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident, Shii said that the movement for eliminating nuclear weapons and the movement for zero nuclear power plants share a call that there should be no more victims of radiation contamination.
Referring to a change taking place in public perception since the Fukushima accident, the mayor of Nagasaki City said that the people are beginning to understand that the danger of radiation was not “an event that took place in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the past but that it is linked to the present as well as to the future of all of humanity.”
The mayor said that municipalities declaring themselves nuclear-free are calling for support to declaring Northeast Asia a nuclear-free zone, and that in Japan alone more than 100 municipalities have supported the call.
Shii said that six nuclear-free zones exist in the world, covering most of the southern hemisphere. Shii stressed that nuclear-free zones are important because they are directly linked to the demand for nuclear weapons elimination.
