Secretary General visits Hiroshima and Beijing

From 23-28 June 2025 the Pugwash Secretary General, Prof. Karen Hallberg, had meetings in Beijing before travelling to Hiroshima for several engagements ahead of the 63rd Pugwash Conference.

At Tsinghua University she met with Council member Prof. Li Bin and Prof. Wu Riqiang of the department of International Relations. In meetings which stressed the future areas for collaboration and engagement of particularly young scientists, she also met Qiyang Niu, co-head of the Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, and Yue Yuan, assistant professor, the Institute of International relations, China Foreign Affairs University, and Raven Witherspoon (a visiting scholar from Princeton University).

In Beijing, Prof. Hallberg also held an official meeting with the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament, represented by the Deputy Secretary General, Dr. Tao Tao, and Dr. Pu Zhuangyi, Deputy Director Asia Pacific division.

In Hiroshima, the Secretary General met with Council members and lead organizers of the 63rd Pugwash Conference, Dr. Tomohiro Inagaki and Prof. Tatsujiro Suzuki, and Pugwash Japan member Dr. Atsushi Hikita, thanking them all for their commitment and intensive work towards the organisation of the upcoming Hiroshima international conference. The group visited the Hiroshima Peace Center which will host the Pugwash Conference, meeting the director, Dr. Yumi Kanazaki, and Prof. Luli van der Does, Director of the Center for Peace and a professor at Hiroshima University.

The Secretary General then visited the Chugoku Shimbun newspaper, meeting Takashi Takamoto, Executive Director, and being interviewed by reporters Michio Shimotaka and Kana Kobayashi.

There followed a meeting at the Hiroshima City Hall with Kojinbara Masashi, the Deputy Mayor. The Secretary General was able to sincerely thank him and the governor for their contribution and great support for the 63rd Pugwash conference and share Pugwash’s appreciation for their participation. The group then held a meeting at the Hiroshima Prefecture with Governor Hidehiko Yusaki, and the director of the Hiroshima Organization for Global Peace, Hiroshi Yamamoto. Subsequently, there was a meeting with members of Kure city governance Takashi Aizawa, Prefectural Assembly member for Kure city, and Kazuo Omori, director general affairs.

The final event of the day was a Press Conference held with several regional and national news outlets. Pugwash was especially honoured that Keiko Ogura, a hibakusha, was able to participate and reflect on the opportunity that the 63rd Pugwash Conference in Hiroshima holds for promoting dialogue on ways to abolish nuclear weapons.