Peace in the Asia Pacific Conference, October 21-22, 2011, Washington D.C.

There will be an important conference about Peace in the Asia Pacific region, featuring leaders from Chinese government and civil society, peace movement leaders from Japan, Korea, Guam, Hawaiʻi and many leading scholars and activists.

Ikaika Hussey from Hawai ʻi Peace and Justice and DMZ-Hawaiʻi / Aloha ʻĀina will be representing Hawaiʻi and speaking about militarization and resistance in Hawaiʻi. Julian Aguon from Guahan/Guam will also be speaking about the struggle against U.S. bases in Guam.

 

From the Peace In Asia Pacific Conference:

Friends,

When was the last time you had the opportunity to meet and learn from leading political figures from China, a key leader of the Japanese nuclear disarmament movement, or a leading Korean spokesperson for the movement to prevent construction of a new naval base on Jeju Island that was featured in the New York Times?

When was the last time you had the chance to get together and share experiences and challenges with U.S. organizers and activists working to Move the Money from the Pentagon to our communities, to end the Central Asian wars, and for nuclear weapons abolition?

I am writing because I am excited about the Peace in Asia and the Pacific conference that the American Friends Service Committee and a host of U.S. and Asia-Pacific peace organizations have planned for October 21 & 22 at American University in Washington, D.C. The conference will be an absolutely unique opportunity to develop a strategy to make peace in the Asia Pacific region a reality.

For registration & discounted hotel reservations*: http://afsc.org/PeaceInAsiaPacific

 Who will be there?

Jean Athey                        Peace Action National Board & leading figure in the campaign to cut Pentagon spending to meet human needs

Shen Dingli                        Director of Center American Studies Executive Vice Dean of the Institute of International Affairs, Fudan University (often quoted in the New York Times)

Herbert Docena            Filipino researcher for Focus on the Global South working with NGOs and social movements

John Feffer                        Co-Director of Foreign Policy in Focus, Institute for Policy Studies

Bruce Gagnon                    Coordinator, Global Network Against Weapons andNuclear Power in Space

Joseph Gerson                        Disarmament Coordinator, American Friends Service Committee

Takakusaki Hiroshi            Co-Convener, World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (Hiroshima & Nagasaki)

Kayashige Junko            Hiroshima A-Bomb Survivor, artist and abolition campaigner

Zia Mian                        Scientist, scholar and extraordinary scholar at Princeton University

Madame Yan Junqi             Vice President of the Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament and Vice President of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People’s Congress

Yanae Pak                        A leading figure in the courageous and militant nonviolent resistance to building a new military base on Jeju Island in Korea

Why discuss peace in Asia and the Pacific the U.S. is still at war in Afghanistan and Iraq?

  • Because the focus of Pentagon planning and spending has moved from Europe and the so-called “Arc of Instability” to preparations for 21st century wars in Asia and the Pacific.
  • Because the center of the global economy and much of human development shifts from the West to the East
  • Because the struggle for dominance – as well as historic tensions and resource competition in Asia and the Pacific – have generated regional arms races, growing U.S.-Chinese military tensions, threats, and armed confrontations
  • Because alternatives are possible, and here in the U.S. job creation and meeting urgent community and human needs requires moving the money from preparations for Asian & Pacific wars to building our future.

We will work together with panel discussions and  in workshops to delve deeper into issues and build on existing campaigns from demilitarizing national budgets, withdrawing foreign military bases to nuclear weapons abolition.

Please join us if you can. For more information see http://afsc.org/PeaceInAsiaPacific, write to JGerson@afsc.org or phone 617-661-6130.

Join in working for a 21st century of peace, justice and international solidarity.

Joseph Gerson

American Friends Service Committee

*For discounts, hotel reservations must be made by September 21.

Conference initiated by American Friends Service Committee and Chinese People’s Association for Peace and Disarmament. Participating organizations include: American University’s Nuclear Studies Institute, Historians against the war, Korea Policy Institute, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns, Nodutol, Peace Acton, United for Peace and Justice, Survival Education fund, Veterans for Peace – Korea Peace Campaign.

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Whose Pacific? : DMZ Hawai'i / Aloha 'Aina

[…] and self-determination.  Those in Washington, D.C. on October 21-22, 2011 can attend the “Peace in Asia and the Pacific: Alternatives to Asia-Pacific Militarization” conference, which features leading activists and scholars from around the Asia Pacific region, […]

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