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Japan’s Prime Minister Just Walked All Over Obama

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Christian Datoc Senior White House Correspondent
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At a Wednesday press conference, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe revealed he has no plans to visit the Pearl Harbor Memorial, despite President Obama’s upcoming trip to Hiroshima.

“With regard to President Obama’s visit to Hiroshima, I would like to touch on this,” Abe told the gathered group of reporters. “Seventy-one years ago, back in 1945, two atomic bombs were dropped, and in Hiroshima, numerous citizens sacrificed their lives and even now there are those of us suffering because of the atomic bombing.”

According to Politico, Abe stated Obama’s Hiroshima trip “will no doubt create powerful momentum toward realizing a world free of nuclear weapons,” before declining to reciprocate the symbolic favor.

“At this moment, I don’t have any specific plan to visit Hawaii,” he continued. “So as we move forward, I am determined to work closely with the United States in addressing various challenges of the international community based on our alliance, namely our alliance of hope between Japan and the United States.”

Obama’s Friday visit to Hiroshima will mark the first time a U.S. president has visited the city since the end of World War II.

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