Tokyo, August 4 2011 - Nagasaki Mayor Taue, Vice-President of Mayors for Peace, met with Foreign Minister Takeaki Matsumoto today where he promoted a nuclear weapon-free zone covering Japan and the two Koreas.
Nagasaki Mayor calls on the Japanese government to work toward the creation of a nuclear weapon-free zone in the Northeast Asian region. Mayor Taue submitted signatures of 103 Japanese municipality heads in support of this proposal to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo. The request was also signed by the Mayor Kazumi Matsui of Hiroshima.
Today a majority of countries are actually already part of NWFZ, with the entire Southern Hemisphere forming the largest part.
The initiative of the Nagasaki Mayor illustrates the important role of cities in the international peace and security debates. Cities, the prime targets of nuclear weapons, have an important role to play.
Kyodo News reported that the minister told Taue that Japan has been most enthusiastic about eventually realizing a world free of nuclear weapons and that the government and the municipality heads ''share goals'' on nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation.
According to Kyodo Foreign Press Secretary Satoru Sato said at a press conference after the meeting between the mayor and Matsumoto that the government will study the proposed nuclear free zone ''by taking into consideration movements in international affairs.'' He said ''various threats'' exist in the Northeast Asian region and that Japan's security is guaranteed by U.S. nuclear deterrence.
According to Kyodo News Mayor Taue recognizes the ''tough (security) conditions'' in the region, but that he urged the central government to think about ''getting out of the nuclear umbrella (provided by the United States) and creating a nonnuclear umbrella'' in the Northeast Asia.
''Movements for the elimination of nuclear weapons will not advance if we just chant the mantra of abolishing nuclear arms. We should consider the idea of creating a nuclear free zone as a next step,'' the mayor said.
The proposal pushed by the municipality heads envisages that nuclear powers China, Russia and the United States guarantee the security of Japan, South Korea and North Korea in the nuclear free zone.
A nuclear-weapon-free zone is a specified region in which countries commit themselves not to manufacture, acquire, test, or possess nuclear weapons. Five such zones exist today, with four of them spanning the entire Southern Hemisphere. Additionally, in the absence of any regional treaty, Mongolia (2000) and Austria (1999) have both declared their nuclear weapon free status through enacting their own domestic legislation.
« back
