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TOKYO (AP) – Nagasaki marked the 76th anniversary of the US atomic bombing of the Japanese city on Monday, its mayor urging Japan, the United States and Russia to do more to eliminate nuclear weapons.
In his speech at Nagasaki Peace Park, Mayor Tomihisa Taue urged the Japanese government to take the initiative to create a nuclear-free zone in Northeast Asia rather than remain under the US nuclear umbrella – a reference to the American promise to use its own nuclear weapons. defend allies without them.
Taue also singled out the United States and Russia – which have by far the most important arsenals – to do more for nuclear disarmament, as he worried that nuclear states have backed down on efforts. disarmament and are modernizing and miniaturizing nuclear weapons.
“Please consider building a nuclear-weapon-free zone in North East Asia that would create a ‘non-nuclear umbrella’ instead of a ‘nuclear umbrella’ and would be a step in the direction of a world without nuclear weapons.” , Taue said. said urging the Japanese government to do more to take steps towards nuclear disarmament.
At 11:02 am, as the B-29 bomber dropped a plutonium bomb, Nagasaki survivors and other ceremony attendees rose in a minute of silence to honor more than 70,000 lives lost.
The bombing of August 9, 1945 came three days after the United States launched the world’s first atomic attack on Hiroshima, killing 140,000 people. Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II.
The mayor also called on the Japanese government and lawmakers to swiftly sign the 2017 Nuclear Weapons Ban Treaty which entered into force in January.
Tokyo renounces its own possession, production or harbor of nuclear weapons, but as an ally of the United States, Japan welcomes 50,000 American troops and is protected by the American nuclear umbrella. Post-World War II security deal complicates efforts to get Japan to sign the treaty as it bolsters its own military while stepping up defense cooperation with other nuclear-weapon states such as than Britain and France, to deal with threats from North Korea and China, among others.
Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said that the security environment is severe and world views are deeply divided on nuclear disarmament, and that there is a need to eliminate mistrust by promoting dialogue and forming a ground mutual discussion.
Taue also called for substantial progress towards nuclear disarmament at next year’s Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference, “starting with greater measures by the United States and Russia to reduce weapons. nuclear “.
He called on Suga’s government to step up and speed up medical and social assistance to aging atomic bombing survivors, or hibakusha, whose average age is now over 83.
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