Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd called yesterday for an end to nuclear weapons as he toured a memorial to the horror of the world’s first atomic bombing.
Rudd started a visit to Japan, aimed at easing doubts about his commitment to the two countries’ alliance, with a tour of Hiroshima, where a partially destroyed dome lies as a memorial to the nuclear attack.
The first Australian prime minister to visit the memorial was joined by his wife, Therese Rein, as they laid a wreath and toured a museum documenting the Aug. 6, 1945, attack.
He wrote in the museum guest book: “Let the world resolve afresh from the ashes of this city — to work together for the common mission of peace for this Asia-Pacific century, and for a world where one day nuclear weapons are no more.”
He echoed his remarks in public remarks, saying: “Hiroshima should cause the world community to resolve afresh that all humankind must exert their every effort for peace in this 21st century.”
The US dropped an atomic bomb on the city in the early morning, killing about 140,000 people either immediately or in the months that followed from radiation injuries or horrific burns.
Three days later, an even more powerful nuclear bomb flattened Nagasaki, killing another 70,000 people. Japan surrendered six days afterwards, ending World War II.
Rudd has taken a harder line on nuclear issues since taking office last year, reversing a decision to sell uranium to India because New Delhi has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
His commitment on nuclear issues will likely be welcomed in Japan, where the election of Rudd’s Labor Party was received with some unease last year.
Japanese officials were privately irate when Rudd, a Sinophile, visited China rather than Japan on his first major overseas visit that also took him to the US and Europe.
Rudd has also ramped up pressure on Japan over whaling, sending a customs vessel to monitor Tokyo’s controversial annual hunt in the Antarctic Ocean.
Japan, which says that whaling is part of its culture, kills hundreds of the giant mammals each year in defiance of strong protests by Australia and New Zealand.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique