Protest letter against the US subcritical nuclear test (October 1, 1999)

October 1, 1999

The Honorable William Jefferson Clinton
The President
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500
The United States of America

His Excellency Dr. Thomas Stephen Foley
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary
of the United States of America
Embassy of the United States of America in Japan

Letter of Protest

On September 30, the United States ignored the pleas of the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and many people around the world to proceed with its 7th subcritical nuclear test. The nuclear tests by India and Pakistan last year have significantly increased the danger of nuclear weapons actually being used, and the world is demanding that the nuclear weapons states invest far greater effort in nuclear disarmament. I am outraged that at such a delicate time, the US and Russia insist on flouting world opinion to repeatedly conduct subcritical nuclear tests and show no inclination to abolish nuclear weapons. On behalf of the citizens of Hiroshima, I vehemently protest.

Subcritical nuclear testing greatly exacerbates distrust among non-nuclear powers and invites further nuclear proliferation. I call on the United States to immediately halt such testing and to listen sincerely to Hiroshima's survivors who, through their own experience, know that nuclear weapons are the ultimate evil and their use would mean doom for the human race. I further demand that you live up to your obligation as a nuclear weapons state and work with positive determination to abolish nuclear weapons.

Tadatoshi Akiba
Mayor of Hiroshima