Ceasefire Now !

　 “Ceasefire Now in Ukraine” and “No War in Our Region”　

　----Declaration of Japanese Citizens to the G-7 Leaders gathered at Hiroshima in May 2023.----

 April 5. 2023

 

We, Japan-resident citizens and intellectuals, are desirous of peace.

War has been going on in Ukraine already for one year. This war began with the Russian attack on Ukraine. Ukraine roused its people into an all-out resistance war but the war already shows signs of being  a proxy war, with outcomes determined by weapons provided by the NATO countries. Countless Ukrainian towns and villages have been destroyed and appalling numbers of Ukrainian people have died. At the same time, more-and-more Russian soldiers are also dying. 

 

If the war continues any longer, its effects will spread to other parts of the globe. For example, the exclusion of Russia caused by this war will result in the loss of coordination of international interests in the Arctic, where Russia is the largest coastal state, melting of the Arctic ice and further escalation of global warming. The lives and destinies of the world, especially those already vulnerable before the outbreak of the war, will become increasingly precarious. The threat of the use of nuclear weapons and the threat of further combat over nuclear power plants are becoming increasingly real. Fighting must cease immediately.

 

One year and fifteen days after the start of the Korean War [in June 1950], formal ceasefire talks began on an American proposal and with the agreement of the Soviet Union that was supporting one of the belligerent states. In the Ukrainian war, formal ceasefire talks between Ukraine and Russia began five days after the beginning of the war. Roughly a month later, when Ukrainian terms for a ceasefire were proposed, Russian forces withdrew from the Kyiv front. However, ceasefire talks, including realistic settlement terms, collapsed at the beginning of April and full-scale war resumed. Since then, cruel warfare has continued. Now, with one year having passed since outbreak of the war, Russia and Ukraine should learn from the Korean War case and reopen discussions towards an immediate ceasefire.　We demand , “Ceasefire Now！”

 

Fortunately, in this war , through the mediation of parties including the UN and Turkey, a partial ceasefire has been implemented concerning grain exports and nuclear power plants. A humanitarian corridor also functions. These steps can become signposts towards a full ceasefire. The Chinese proposal for a ceasefire is also a good sign. Civic movements calling for ceasefire have also become active. G-7 countries should not be supplying ever more weapons but should set up a “negotiating table.” Neutral countries of the global South, especially China and India, should play the role of negotiation arbiters.

 

The expansion of the Ukraine War beyond Europe must be stopped at all costs. We will preserve the peace of Northeast Asia and East Asia. We strongly resolve that peace be maintained, that the Japan Sea (East Sea) not become a sea of war, that there be no war between US and North Korea, and that there be no war between the US and China over Taiwan. We demand  “No War in Our Region“.　

In August 1945, Japan surrendered to the Allies (US, UK, China, the Soviet Union), put an end to the history of fifty years as a warring state and was reborn as a peace state. The new constitution of 1946 included Article 9, for ever rejecting the threat or use of force to resolve international disputes. Japan recognized the independence of Korea and returned Taiwan and Manchuria that it had taken from China. Then, it pledged never again to go to war with Korea (North or South), China or Taiwan. We citizens living in Japan will not take part in any war in Sea of Japan/East Sea. We will not take part in any war over Taiwan. We will not go to war.

 

We call for Japan to respond to the wishes of the G-7 by calling for a ceasefire in the Ukraine War and, alongside China and India, becoming an arbiter of negotiations for a ceasefire.

 

       April 5. 2023

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 Isezaki Kenji (Professor emeritus, former UN official), Ichinokawa Yasutaka (Professor),  Ueno Chizuko(Prof. emeritus), Uchida Tatsuru(Prof. emeritus), Uchida Masatoshi (Lawyer), Utsumi Aiko(Prof. emeritus), Umebayashi Hiromichi (Peace Depot, Chairman),  Okamoto Atsushi (Former President, Iwanami Ltd.), Kang Sangjung (Prof.emeritus),  Kanehira Shigeki (Journalist), Kato Tokiko (Singer), Koseki Shoichi (Prof. emeritus), Komori Yoichi (Prof. emeritus, Kenpo 9 jo no kai, Secretary-general),  Sakai Keiko (Professor), Sakurai Kunitoshi(Prof. emeritus), Suzuki Kunio (Citizen-activist), Takahashi Sakino (Translator), Takamura Kaoru (Novelist), Tanaka Hiroshi (Prof. emeritus), Tanaka Yuko (Former Rector, Hosei University), Tahara Soichiro(Journalist), Teruoka Itsuko (Prof. emeritus), Chiba Shin (Prof. emeritus), Nishitani Osamu (Prof. emeritus), Haba Kumiko (Prof. emeritus), Fujimoto Wakio (Former Rector, Osaka Keiho University), Hoshino Eiichi (Prof. emeritus), Maekita Miyako (Representative, Emvironment PR “Sustena”),  Mizushima Asaho (Professor), Mori Kazuko(Prof. emeritus),Yoshioka Shinobu (Former chairman, Pen Club Japan), Wada Haruki (Prof. emeritus)