Al Mayadeen English

  • Ar
  • Es
  • x
Al Mayadeen English

Slogan

  • News
    • Politics
    • Economy
    • Sports
    • Arts&Culture
    • Health
    • Miscellaneous
    • Technology
    • Environment
  • Articles
    • Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Blog
    • Features
  • Videos
    • NewsFeed
    • Video Features
    • Explainers
    • TV
    • Digital Series
  • Infographs
  • In Pictures
  • • LIVE
News
  • Politics
  • Economy
  • Sports
  • Arts&Culture
  • Health
  • Miscellaneous
  • Technology
  • Environment
Articles
  • Opinion
  • Analysis
  • Blog
  • Features
Videos
  • NewsFeed
  • Video Features
  • Explainers
  • TV
  • Digital Series
Infographs
In Pictures
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Asia-Pacific
  • Europe
  • Latin America
  • MENA
  • Palestine
  • US & Canada
BREAKING
Lebanese Ministry of Health: Final toll from airstrike on car in Zebdine, Nabatieh District: Two martyrs, four injured
Egyptian media: Indirect talks between Hamas and Israelis begin in Sharm el-Sheikh.
AFP: France's new PM Sebastein Lecornu resigns just hours after unveiling cabinet.
Trump: Technical teams will meet again on Monday in Egypt to discuss and clarify the final details, and the first phase is scheduled to be completed this week
US President Donald Trump: Talks with Hamas have been very successful and are moving at a rapid pace
Local sources in Aleppo: Violent clashes erupt between the SDF and factions affiliated with the transitional authority on the Deir Hafer and Tishrin Dam fronts in the eastern Aleppo countryside
Israeli media: Interceptor missiles fired in an attempt to shoot down the drone
IOF Spokesperson: Sirens sounded amid suspected "enemy aircraft" infiltrating the Eilat area
Israeli media: "Israel" won the battle but lost the war strategically and politically
Israeli media: Ben Gurion Airport's airspace closed to air traffic following missile launch from Yemen

Japanese PM aims for nuclear arms pledge during G7 summit in Hiroshima

  • By Al Mayadeen English
  • Source: Agencies
  • 18 May 2023 11:41
5 Min Read

Observers believe that G7 leaders are unlikely to commit to any issue on nuclear arms, despite Japan's efforts.

  • x
  • Japanese PM aims for nuclear arms pledge during G7 summit in Hiroshima
    Visitors stand in front of a photograph showing Hiroshima city after the 1945 atomic bombing, as they look at artifacts from the destruction caused by the bomb, at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima, western Japan, March 26, 2015. (Reuters)

The Ukrainian conflict and China will be at the center of focus of discussions held by G7 leaders, who began to arrive on Thursday at the group's summit, held in Japan's Hiroshima.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida is expected to address the issue of nuclear weapons and push for including a pledge on the matter in the talks, media outlets reported.

Hiroshima was the first city ever to be targeted by nuclear weapons in 1945 by the United States.

The leaders are scheduled to visit on Saturday the city's Peace Memorial Museum, which showcases the atrocities of the nuclear attack launched by the US, which killed around 140,000 people between the dropping of the bomb and the months following it.

Read more: DPRK accuses NATO of infiltration into Asia, 'military collusion'

Remainders of children's possessions - such as ripped school uniforms and lunch boxes - are among the exhibited items, which US President Joe Biden will be observing throughout his tour along with other G7 leaders.

Kishida expressed his desire for “a world without nuclear weapons” ahead of the summit, but critics called him out for making these claims despite Japan refusing to sign a 2021 UN treaty banning the possession and use of nuclear arms, and Tokyo's presence under the United State's nuclear umbrella.

“I believe the first step toward any nuclear disarmament effort is to provide a first-hand experience of the consequences of the atomic bombing and to firmly convey the reality,” Kishida said of the planned visit to the museum.

Read more: US uses G7 as ‘tool’ to maintain hegemony: DPRK FM

UN chief Antonio Guterres called earlier this week on G7 leaders to publicly declare their commitment to not using nuclear weapons under "any circumstances."

“This is the moment in which we must insist on the need of revitalizing disarmament, and especially nuclear disarmament,” Guterres told Japanese media ahead of his visit to Hiroshima.

Related News

White House concerned about unfolding domestic terrorism conspiracy

Von der Leyen faces no-confidence vote for 'surrendering Europe' to US

A Hiroshima nuclear attack survivor considered the meeting to be their final chance to effectively promote the case of disarmament of nuclear powers, especially as leaders of the US, UK, and France would be present.

“I want to see the leaders commit to getting rid of nuclear weapons,” Shigeaki Mori, an 86-year-old survivor, told The Guardian. “I also know it’s very hard to get them to go that far.”

As observers believe that Kishida's aims on nuclear arms are unlikely to happen, US officials stated that the United States will not be pushing for a different agenda during the summit, while senior German diplomats considered that the issue is not a priority for the leaders, but only for Japan.

One aid to French President Emmanuel Macron insisted that the G7 “is not an anti-Chinese" summit, despite Beijing being one of their main topics of discussion, especially vis-a-vis the Taiwan matter.

“[The G7] have to address economic security and how to deal with sensitive technologies,” said Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo.

“Everything is part of the great power competition that is taking place between the United States and Russia, and the United States and China.”

Read more: Japanese protest G7 summit in Kyoto

Complex issue

A senior US official said on Wednesday that Biden's Japan trip will reveal a unified position of G7 leaders on dealing with China, while taking into consideration that different countries will manage the approach differently.

Attending the Hiroshima summit will show that the United States is able to support Kiev while also being strongly present in the Indo-Pacific region, the official told Reuters.

Asked whether a united stance on China can be expected from the group's leaders, the official replied, "While the G7 is a consensus-driven group, the hosts do play a big role in setting the agenda and the Japanese are very, very concerned with economic security issues writ large, including vis-a-vis China."

"I think that what you can expect is that G7 leaders will make clear that we’re all unified and united behind a common approach grounded in common values. And at the same time, that each G7 country is going to manage its own relationship with China, but that we’re all aligned around the principles that will guide all of our relationships," he added.

The anti-China chip restrictions will be one of the main subjects discussed in the meeting.

"I think you should expect to see general agreement on principles to define the relationships with China coming out of this."

  • United States
  • Japan
  • G7
  • US
  • nuclear weapons
  • Fumio Kishida
  • China
  • Ukraine
  • Hiroshima

Most Read

Iraq at a crossroads: A new war front?

Iraq at a crossroads: A new war front?

  • West Asia
  • 30 Sep 2025
A Hamas fighter in combat fatigues stands before the ceremony for the handover of Israeli captives to the Red Cross in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip, Saturday, February 22, 2025 (AP)

Hamas responds to Trump plan, backs Gaza withdrawal, exchange

  • Politics
  • 3 Oct 2025
Tucker Carlson speaks at a memorial for Charlie Kirk, Sunday, September 21, 2025, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona (AP)

Tucker Carlson: Israeli officers gave orders on Iran inside Pentagon

  • Politics
  • 2 Oct 2025
ap

'Israel' pays influencers $7K per post to whitewash Gaza genocide

  • Politics
  • 1 Oct 2025

Coverage

All
War on Gaza

Read Next

All
Hezbollah's representative in Iran, Sayyed Abdullah Safieddine, during an interview with Al Mayadeen which aired on October 6, 2025 (Al Mayadeen)
Politics

Tehran never interferes in Hezbollah decisions: Representative in Iran

Smoke billows over the Gaza Strip following an Israeli bombardment, as seen from southern Palestine, Sunday, Oct. 5, 2025. (AP)
Politics

Indirect talks for a ceasefire in Gaza begin in Sharm El-Sheikh: Egypt

Fighters from the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) prepare to attend a military parad in Qamishli, northeastern Syria, Tuesday, August 12, 2025 (AP)
Politics

Security forces seal Aleppo’s Sheikh Maqsoud, Ashrafieh districts

Amsterdam Captain Mohammed Ali Mohiuddin, who took part in the Global Sumud mission to Gaza, talks to Al Mayadeen on October 6, 2025 (Screengrab)
Politics

GSF captain says despite abuse, 'Israel weaker than spider's web'

Al Mayadeen English

Al Mayadeen is an Arab Independent Media Satellite Channel.

All Rights Reserved

  • x
  • Privacy Policy
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Authors
Android
iOS