Albanese urged to take stand against nuclear weapons during G7 summit in Hiroshima
International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons wants Labor to send a ‘message to the region’ and sign and ratify a treaty to impose a ban on atomic weapons
Guardian Daniel Hurst 19 May 23
Anthony Albanese is being urged to take a firm stand against nuclear weapons when he attends the G7 summit in Hiroshima this weekend.
The prime minister has been invited to attend the summit in Hiroshima, which along with Nagasaki was devastated by the US atomic bombing in the closing stages of the second world war.
Albanese is due to arrive in the city on Friday afternoon and will join the mayor of Hiroshima for a visit to the Peace Memorial Park, including the ruins of the former industrial promotion hall now known as the A-bomb dome.
A Nobel prize-winning group, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (Ican), has written to Albanese to urge him to make good on Labor’s promise to join a new treaty to impose an outright ban on nuclear weapons.
The party platform said a Labor government would sign and ratify the treaty, after taking account of factors including the need to work to achieve universal international support.
Ican cited Albanese’s speech championing the treaty in 2018 when he denounced nuclear weapons as “the most destructive, inhumane and indiscriminate weapons ever created”.
“At the 2018 National Labor Conference, you showed what strong leadership on this issue looks like,” said the letter from the co-chairs of Ican Australia, Dr Margaret Beavis and Associate Prof Marianne Hanson.
“You now have the unique responsibility to show the world once again what leadership on this critical issue looks like.
“We urge you to take the opportunity to advance Australia’s position on this treaty when you visit Hiroshima.”
The letter argued the acquisition of nuclear-propelled, conventionally armed submarines under Aukus “sharpens the need for a binding and permanent commitment that Australia will not possess, host or assist with the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons now or in the future”.
The Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) is a relatively new treaty that imposes a blanket ban on developing, testing, stockpiling, using or threatening to use nuclear weapons – or helping other countries to carry out such activities.
The TPNW now has 92 signatories, 68 of which have formally ratified it. But it is opposed by the United States and other nuclear weapons states, which argue it is out of step with international security realities.
The former Morrison government said the treaty’s terms were inconsistent with Australia’s obligations under the US alliance.
In November, the US embassy in Canberra warned that the TPNW “would not allow for US extended deterrence relationships, which are still necessary for international peace and security”.
Talei Mangioni, 29, who is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University’s School of Culture, History and Language, addressed a youth summit in Hiroshima late last month. She hopes Albanese makes progress on the issue.
The Ican Australia board member said she was touched to hear directly from hibakusha (survivor) Keiko Ogura about the “invisible scars” of the 1945 bombing and about visits to Japan by Pacific activists in the 1980s.
“At the moment Australia is really out of step with the rest of the region,” said Mangioni, who is of Fijian and Italian descent and whose research focuses on the Nuclear Free and Independent Pacific Movement.
“Most Pacific countries have either signed or ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. If he were to commit to the TPNW, I think it would send a great message to the region. The nuclear test legacy is a very serious issue in the Pacific and also for Aboriginal communities in Australia.”
During the Albanese government’s first year in office, Australia has taken some cautious steps to engage with the TPNW, including sending a backbencher as an observer to the first meeting of the parties in Vienna last June.
Australia followed that up by shifting its position at a UN committee in October to “abstain” after five years of actively opposing the treaty under the Coalition.
But Albanese and senior ministers have avoided giving a clear timetable for joining the TPNW……………………………… https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/may/19/albanese-urged-to-take-stand-against-nuclear-weapons-during-g7-summit-in-hiroshima
Ukrainian diplomat fears ‘terrible summer’ ahead
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https://www.rt.com/russia/576550-terrible-price-ukraine-counteroffensive/
The country’s troops may have to pay a “terrible price” in a planned counteroffensive, envoy Vadim Pristaiko said
Ukraine could suffer heavy losses during its much-anticipated counteroffensive against Russia, Vadim Pristaiko, Kiev’s ambassador to the UK, warned on Thursday.
In an interview with British broadcaster ITV, the diplomat said: “I know that it can be a very terrible summer and the price is terrible.”
Pristaiko also said Kiev’s Western backers have piled “too much pressure” on Kiev and have built up “too much expectations” about the spring campaign.
When asked to comment on why Ukraine maintains its position on not revealing its losses in the conflict, Pristaiko replied: “internally, we understand how many of us are already killed and lost.”
“We understand that it will be extremely difficult to fight with a nation that is 16 times bigger than us,” the envoy said. “But we are determined to do it and we are not going to tell Russians how painful it is – they know it is painful and we know it is painful”.
The Ukrainian ambassador also acknowledged that while US President Joe Biden and his administration have emerged as one of Kiev’s most staunch supporters, his successor might prove to be less willing to help the country.
“One of the weaknesses of democracy is the cyclical nature, and we have the same… we have to take into account this cycle in politics,” he said.
“We understand that the time might come that we won’t enjoy such great support, that is why we have to put all the pressure right now”, Pristaiko said. “That is why we are asking our friends, can you bring everything to the table? Allow us to have a decisive push this time.”
For several months, Ukraine has been speaking about a counteroffensive against Russia to reclaim territories Kiev considers as its own, but some officials have complained about a lack of ammunition, weapons, and even adverse weather conditions.
Last week, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky stated that his country is basically “ready” for its launch, but “still needs a bit more time” as it waits for more Western weapons.
Last month, The New York Times reported that there are no guarantees that the Ukrainian counteroffensive will succeed, adding that an underwhelming outcome would likely prompt Kiev’s backers to press it to negotiate for peace.
Hiroshima’s nuclear history sounds an urgent warning for G-7 summit
Democracy Now, Laura Kelly, The Hill: May 19, 2023
HIROSHIMA — The cost of war is ever-present in this nuclear-scarred city, which this week is playing host to a high-stakes summit of the Group of Seven (G-7) nations amid Europe’s bloodiest conflict since WWII.
The Atomic Bomb Dome, bearing its skeleton roof and partially remaining walls from when it was irrevocably transformed at 8:15 a.m. on Aug. 6, 1945, is a haunting testament to the horror wrought by man’s determination to pursue maximum destruction.
And it serves as the backdrop for a weekend summit at a time when the use of nuclear war is once again openly threatened on the world stage — from loose Russian talk, North Korean provocations, Iran’s nuclear buildup and China’s expanding arsenal………………………………………
President Biden, attending the summit, will not be issuing an apology on behalf of the United States for using the atomic bomb, the White House said ahead of the president’s arrival in Japan…………………………………………..
Just across from the Peace Memorial Park is the museum housing the testimonies of survivors and the victims of the atomic bombing — gruesome stories of people scorched by the heat of the blast, their skin hanging off their bodies just as their clothes hung like rags. An estimated 140,000 people died as a result of the bombing.
Among the museum’s displays include a 2010 photo of then-President Obama shaking hands with then-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev following the signing of the New START treaty, a watershed moment signaling a commitment from the two leading nuclear powers to reduce their nuclear stockpiles……………………………………………………
Kishida is overseeing a massive military mobilization in Japan in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kishida visited Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv in March, an extraordinary show of solidarity from an Asian nation.
…………………………………………. World leaders are gathering in Hiroshima at a time in which experts warn the risk of nuclear confrontation is at its highest since the Cold War.
……………………………..reinforcing solidarity among G-7 nations to support Ukraine pushing back against Russian aggression is sure to be the primary focus, with Putin’s nuclear saber-rattling and Hiroshima’s haunted legacy front of mind. https://www.democracynow.org/2023/5/19/headlines/biden_wont_apologize_for_1945_nuclear_attacks_on_japan_as_g7_leaders_gather_in_hiroshima
Biden Won’t Apologize for 1945 Nuclear Attacks on Japan as G7 Leaders Gather in Hiroshima
As the G7 summit gets underway in Hiroshima, Japan, world leaders agreed to new sanctions against Russia over the invasion of Ukraine. Ahead of their first joint meeting today, President Biden and the other leaders paid tribute to the victims of the world’s first nuclear attack — the U.S. bombing of Hiroshima on August 6, 1945 — laying wreaths at the Hiroshima Peace Memorial and planting a tree. President Biden did not issue an apology for the attack. A group of anti-nuclear activists rallied on the streets.
Niishima: “Biden is in Hiroshima, and he’s brought along with him a button to fire a nuclear missile. I cannot forgive him for this. He needs to apologize to the people in Hiroshima.”
At least 140,000 people died in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, which leveled the city. Three days later, the U.S. dropped an atomic bomb on Nagasaki, killing another 74,000 people. Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s family is from Hiroshima, and he lost relatives in the city’s bombing. Kishida has pushed for the abolition of nuclear weapons, while leading the nation’s biggest military buildup since World War II.
Meanwhile, Oxfam reports G7 countries collectively owe poor nations in the Global South more than $13 trillion in development and climate assistance. But instead, these countries are saddled with daily debt repayments of $232 million, deepening the global chasm of inequality.
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