Japan Press Weekly

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2017 March 29 - April 4 TOP3 [PEACE]

Shii speaks for Japanese antinuke movement at UN conference

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo along with other civil society representatives on March 29 spoke at the UN conference negotiating to create a legal ban of nuclear weapons.

This antinuke meeting consists of UN member states’ delegations and civil society representatives.

Shii is taking part in the five-day UN conference as a member of the global network for antinuke parliamentarians, the Parliamentarians for Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament (PNND).

On this day, the third day of the conference, Shii was given the opportunity to make a statement. In his statement, Shii criticized the Japanese government’s absence from the ongoing antinuke talks as “regrettable” and said, “But, Hibakusha and the majority of Japanese people strongly support this conference.”

Shii received favorable responses from the audience in the assembly hall. A representative of the Netherland chapter of the international Catholic peace organization, Pax Christi, said to Shii that he spoke for the antinuke Japanese public while the Japanese government delegation failed to do so.

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The full text of Shii’s statement is as follows:

Madam President

I am Kazuo Shii, a member of parliament from Japan,
Chair of the Japanese Communist Party and a member of PNND.

It is regrettable that the Japanese government is absent from this hall. But Hibakusha and the majority of Japanese people strongly support this conference.

Regarding negotiations for a treaty banning nuclear weapons, the participation of nuclear weapons states would be preferable.

However, even if they don’t join the process to begin with, a treaty banning nuclear weapons concluded by the overwhelming majority of nations could codify the illegality of nuclear weapons threat and use, and further more would stigmatize their possession.

The resulting treaty, combined with global action by civil society organizations, will encourage nuclear weapons states to change their policies and participate in the process leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons.

I emphasize my strong hope that this Conference will be a great success. The Hibakusha and the world deserve no less.

Thank you very much.