Disney apologizes over tweet on Nagasaki A-bomb anniversary
Per Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, those three principles are, “not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons, in line with Japan’s Peace Constitution”.
Abe has already pushed it through Japan’s lower house, and it’s expected to easily pass the upper house, where Abe’s party holds a majority.
However, surveys show a majority of voters are opposed to what would be a significant shift in Japan’s defence policy.
Japan surrendered on August 15, ending World War II.
There are three policy areas, however, where Shinzo Abe seems to be bending to the pressure, and that is on the wording of his 70th war anniversary statement, his decision not to visit Yasukuni Shrine on the anniversary, and in regard to Okinawa base construction.
Abe has said the statement will express “remorse” for Japan’s wartime actions, but domestic media reported that the word “apology” will not be included.
What that means, according to a senior government official, is that “we will continue to commit to the peaceful orientation enshrined in the Constitution and we will never sway from that basic principle”.
A woman and a boy pray next to lanterns along a river, paying tribute to the victims of the atomic bombing in Nagasaki, southern Japan, Thursday, August 9, 2012. “We also hope that Japan, to the best of its ability, can maintain friendly relations and cooperation with its neighboring countries“, Lin said at a diplomatic event.
8,500 Still-living people diagnosed with “atomic bomb syndrome” – illnesses linked to radiation exposure in Hiroshima or Nagasaki – out of 170,000 who have developed cancers, liver and blood disorders and other health problems.
Seventy years ago, a U.S.-dropped atomic bomb detonated about 500 metres from the church, killing two priests who were hearing confessions and about 30 other people inside.
Tomihisa Taue, mayor of Nagasaki, on Sunday urged the Japanese government to respond to public concerns over the government-backed security bills by conducting “careful and honest deliberations”.
He added that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had “become the symbol of mankind’s enormous destructive power when it makes a distorted use of scientific and technical progress and serves as a lasting warning to humanity so that it rejects forever war and bans nuclear weapons and all weapons of mass destruction”.
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‘As the only country attacked with an atomic bomb in war, I am renewing our determination to lead the global effort for nuclear disarmament, to create a world without such weapons, ‘ Abe said in his speech.
He recalled it as a “tragic event which even today evokes horror and revulsion”.