Japan Press Weekly

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2016 May 25 - 31 [PEACE]

Shii on Obama visit to Hiroshima: historic step forward

Japanese Communist Party Chair Shii Kazuo on May 27 commenting on the visit of U.S. President Barack Obama to the A-bombed city of Hiroshima said, “It was a historic step forward.”

Shii said to the press corps gathering at the JCP head office asking for the JCP’s comment on the Obama visit, “He went to Hiroshima as the first sitting President of the United States. He visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum, offered flowers of condolences, delivered remarks, and had a short conversation with some Hibakusha. This was a historic step forward.”

“To lead this step forward to the realization of ‘a world without nuclear weapons’, the United States must squarely look to its possession of nuclear arms and take concrete action, namely to embark on the start of international negotiations on a Nuclear Weapons Convention.”

In this regard, Shii stressed the need for the U.S. administration to change its conventional nuclear policy, and said that the JCP as a political party in Japan will keep calling for this change.

The reporters then asked Shii for a comment on the absence of an apology from President Obama for the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Shii said, “It is a matter of course for many Hibakusha in particular to want to hear the U.S. President express sincere apology for the country’s past deeds.”