Nagasaki’s mayor has urged the Japanese government to take stronger action in opposing nuclear weapons, during a ceremony to mark the 68th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the city.
As tens of thousands of people gathered in Nagasaki for the anniversary, mayor Tomihisa Taue used the occasion to call for stronger anti-nuclear leadership from Tokyo.
Mr Taue says the recent failure to sign a statement rejecting the use of nuclear weapons under any circumstances was a betrayal.
“If we cannot accept the wording that usage of nuclear weapon will never be permitted, it means the Japanese government is showing that nuclear weapons can be used depending on the circumstance,” he said.
Mr Taue called on Japan’s younger generation to hear the voices of the World War II bomb survivors and remember its devastating effects.
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Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe also spoke at the event, reminding the audience that the Japanese are the only people to have experienced a nuclear attack.
“We have the responsibility to bring about a world without nuclear weapons and it is our duty to continue to remind the world of the inhumanity (of nuclear weapons),” Mr Abe said.
Read more at Nagasaki mayor slams Abe’s nuclear policy on atom bomb anniversary
