Devnet – PM Kishida’s G7 Hiroshima Summit

Fumiyasu Akegawa, Chair & CEO  DEVNET International/Japan

The G7 Summit held in Hiroshima was a great success for Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. U.S. President Joe Biden, whose participation in the summit was temporarily in doubt, came to Japan as scheduled, and eight non-G7 countries, including India, South Korea, and Brazil, also participated as invited countries. In addition, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was scheduled to participate online, came to Japan on short notice to meet with the leaders of the countries and participate in discussions on the Ukraine issue on the final day. In Japan, Kishida’s approval rating has soared, and the House of Representatives might be even dissolved to hold another election in August. Of course, the election is to strengthen the base of the current government.

Kishida and leaders of the G7 countries visited the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and offered flowers to the Cenotaph for the Atomic Bomb Victims in Peace Park; in addition to the G7 leaders, leaders of invited countries, including India, a nuclear power, also visited the museum and offered flowers to the Cenotaph. At a press conference with Ukrainian President Zelensky, Kishida emphasized, “I am pleased to welcome the President to Hiroshima and to send the message that nuclear weapons should never be used as a tool to threat, much less to be actually used.” During his meeting with Zelensky, Indian PM Narendra Modi stated that“I don’t consider it to be just an issue of economy or politics. For me, it is an issue of humanity.”

On the morning of May 21, Kishida and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol visited Hiroshima Peace Park to offer flowers and pay their respects at the Cenotaph for the Korean Atomic Bomb Victims. This was the first time that the leaders of Japan and South Korea visited the cenotaph together. In the afternoon, the two leaders briefly exchanged views with U.S. President Biden and agreed to promote U.S.-South Korea-Japan security cooperation, including real-time sharing of North Korean missile warning data, and to strengthen consultations on the Indo-Pacific.

Then, on the afternoon of the 21st, Prime Minister Kishida held a press conference at Peace Memorial Park following the closing of the summit. At the outset, he referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, pointing out that it is a challenge that is shaking the international order. He said, “It is precisely because we are in a difficult security environment that we must uphold a free and open international order based on the rule of law, and demonstrate to the world our determination to protect peace and prosperity. This is the mission of Japan as the chairing country. There is no more appropriate place than Hiroshima, which symbolizes the pledge of peace, to convey this determination,” he said, emphasizing the significance of holding the G7 Summit in Hiroshima. He also stated that “there must be no threat or use of nuclear weapons to change the status quo by force. Regarding the situation in Ukraine, he explained that the G-7 Summit was able to “invite President Zelensky to Japan and demonstrate the unwavering solidarity between the G-7 and Ukraine. The G7 will strive to bring about a just and lasting peace in Ukraine as soon as possible,” he stated.​​​​​​​​​​

Regarding nuclear disarmament, which is closely related to Hiroshima, he explained that at this summit, the G7 leaders “agreed on the importance of not using nuclear weapons for 77 years and confirmed that there are no winners in nuclear war and that nuclear war must never be fought.” Regarding the announcement of the “Hiroshima Vision” on nuclear disarmament at the summit, he said, “I feel that it is historically significant that the G7 leaders, who visited the A-bombed cities, heard the voices of A-bomb survivors, and directly experienced the reality of the atomic bombings and the aspirations of people for peace, issued such a statement.” He also asserted that “a world without nuclear weapons” is not a pipe dream but an ideal, and that “the ideal is within reach. He appealed to the audience to “take realistic steps forward as citizens of Hiroshima, one step at a time, starting here in Hiroshima today.” When asked by a reporter what he thought about Japan’s continued reliance on nuclear deterrence, which some say is incompatible with Hiroshima’s wish for nuclear abolition, he replied, “It is the responsibility of diplomacy and politics to act by firmly outlining a road map on how to connect the harsh reality with the ideal.”

Ms.Setsuko Thurlow, an A-bomb survivor who has returned to the city of Hiroshima from Canada, spoke at a press conference on May 21 about the G7 summit, which concluded its three-day program. “It was a huge failure. I didn’t feel any warmth or pulse from the summit leaders’ statements,” she said. At the summit, the G7 leaders visited Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum for the first time together and spoke with A-bomb survivors. However, the content of the visit and the state of the leaders were not disclosed. “We wanted to hear their reactions. Regarding the Hiroshima Vision on nuclear disarmament,” she said, “It seems as if someone from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs prepared it in advance,” noting that there was no mention of the Nuclear Weapons Convention. “It is heartbreaking to think that this is all they came to Hiroshima for,” she said, expressing disappointment.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on May 21, as the G7 Hiroshima Summit drew to a close, criticizing “a series of malicious anti-Russian and anti-Chinese statements as its main result” and “its commitment to stir up Russophobic and china-phobic hysteria.” And, it responded by saying that the inclusion of Ukrainian President Zelenskyin the summit “has turned it into a propaganda show.” Regarding emerging and developing countries in the Global South, such as India, it said, “The G7 is shamelessly flattering them in order to bring them in and prevent the development of relations with Russia and China.”

The G7 summit may have solidified Prime Minister Kishida’s position within Japan, but what about in terms of appealing to the “world”? If Japan really wants to maintain the international order and promote nuclear disarmament, it should have invited not only Ukrainian President Zelensky but also Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Premier Xi Jinping. Isn’t Japan a country that can do that? I hope that Prime Minister Kishida will go on to play a more important role in the world once he has solidified his domestic foundation