Ten days before Donald Trump's inauguration, the former mayor of Hiroshima sent the president-elect a letter calling on the incoming U.S. administration to lead on nuclear non-use in Northeast Asia.
"Keenly aware that your decisions on matters related to nuclear weapons will affect everybody in the world and especially those of us living in Hiroshima, we, Hiroshima citizens and hibakusha (A-bomb survivors), expect these decisions to be wise and peaceable," Tadatoshi Akiba, Hiroshima's former mayor, wrote.
The letter comes at a time of heightened concern over President Trump's position on nuclear weapons. As of Monday, the White House had not confirmed receipt of the letter, reports the Boston Globe.
It had been a recurring charge throughout the presidential campaign: that Trump could not be trusted with the nation’s nuclear weapons.
Last month, Trump tweeted that the United States ‘‘must greatly strengthen and expand its nuclear capability.’’
He did not elaborate on the message, which followed comments by President Vladimir Putin of Russia about strengthening its own nuclear arsenal.
Though Trump later seemed to walk back his statements, there are reasons to be concerned as he gained control of the United States’s nearly 1,400 active nuclear warheads on Friday.
Akiba's letter argues for a "symmetrical" balance of nuclear power, calling for agreements between North and South Korea, Japan, China, Russia, and the U.S. Notably, the letter focuses on how Trump might leverage his relationship with Putin:
It would be very unlikely that the U.S. would use atomic weapons on China or Russia because such an action would bring about a massive nuclear exchange that would lead to the end of the world. ...All that is necessary is that Russia promises not to use nuclear weapons against Japan and South Korea, as China declared a non-first use policy a long time ago. Perhaps persuading Russia along these lines might be a good starting point between you and Mr. Putin.
The former mayor takes a persuasive tone, at times flattering the now-president.
"Such a scenario is consistent with what you have said so far about nuclear weapons and the fact only you among recent U.S. presidents are bold enough to turn a new page. When you succeed you will have realized an earth-shaking result," Akiba wrote, who ended his letter with an invitation to Trump to visit the sites of destruction and meet those who lived through it.
"Let me conclude this letter by inviting you to visit Hiroshima and/or Nagasaki. I know that because of your magnetic personality you would have a warm rapport with the hibakusha [survivors of the bombs] you would meet in Hiroshima or Nagasaki," Akiba wrote.
Read the letter in full here.
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