The first of a series of planned demonstrations against the G-7 leaders’ summit took place on Saturday in the Japanese city of Kyoto.
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The protesters gathered in front of the Kyoto administration building, and then, accompanied by police officers, marched through the central streets of the city to Maruyama Park.
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“No to the summit! Don’t come to Hiroshima!” the demonstrators chanted.
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According to the organizers of the demonstration, holding a summit in Hiroshima and visiting this city by US President Joe Biden and other heads of the G7 is designed to divert attention from the policy of the American leadership towards China, as well as the fact of increasing the military budget by the government of Fumio Kishida.
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In 2023, the chairmanship of the G7 will take over from Japan. The G7 leaders’ summit will be held in Hiroshima May 19-21. Japanese Prime Minister Kishida’s family comes from Hiroshima, his constituency is located in this city, he became the main initiator of holding the summit in his city.
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In addition to the G7 countries, India, Australia, Brazil, South Korea, Vietnam and three other countries received an invitation to attend the Hiroshima summit: Indonesia chairing the ASEAN, the Cook Islands chairing the Pacific Islands Forum, and the Union of the Comoros chairing the African Union. Also invited to the summit in Hiroshima were the heads of seven organizations: the UN, the International Energy Agency, the International Monetary Fund, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Bank, the WHO and the WTO.
