NEW TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Citizens of the Republic of the Marshall Islands in Taiwan held a memorial for victims of U.S. nuclear testing in their country in New Taipei on Friday (March 15) with a film screening and the opening of a photo exhibition.
Marshallese students in Taiwan joined with their country’s embassy to welcome dignitaries, ambassadors, and government representatives to a ceremony at Tamkang University. The Marshall Islands Ambassador to Taiwan Anjanette Kattil described a “staggering array” of challenges left by the nuclear testing.
“The United States tested a total of 67 known devices,” Kattil said. “If one was to measure the power of all of these tests, it would equate to 1.6 Hiroshima bombs every day, for 12 years.”
A visibly emotional Ambassador Kattil said that all Marshallese people have relatives or know people who have experienced health effects as a result of the testing. She said her mother passed at a young age due to nuclear-related cancer, and said she had also undergone treatments for nuclear-related illnesses.
A 2022 United Nations Human Rights Council resolution expressed “serious concern” about the impact of nuclear testing on the Marshall Islands’ environment and health. The resolution noted elevated levels of cancer, birth defects, reproductive health problems in females, and psychological trauma that is ongoing.
The resolution also expressed serious concern that as a developing country, the Marshall Islands did not have adequate resources to provide medical care to those affected. It said this concern also extended to the country’s ability to clear the environment of nuclear contamination.
Ambassador Anjanette Kattil (front left) sings with Marshallese students at the memorial ceremony on Friday. (Taiwan News, Jono Thomson photo)
Ambassador Kattil said the U.S. government assured Marshallese that the testing was for the “good of humanity.” “They disregarded our humanity and our fundamental right to a clean and sustainable environment, disturbing our health, our food sources, and our culture,” she said.
The claim that the U.S. nuclear testing infringes on the basic human rights of the people of the Marshall Islands is also supported by the 2022 U.N. Human Rights Council resolution.
Ambassador Kattil said 2024 was an important year because it marks the 70th anniversary since the bomb “Bravo” was detonated in the Marshall Islands. The detonation has been described as “the worst single incident of fallout exposure in all the U.S. atmospheric testing program.”
The U.S. government has been accused by multiple parties of using the Marshallese people as human test subjects during the Bravo explosion. U.S. officials deny that human experimentation was part of the nuclear tests.
The U.S. government has never apologized for the nuclear testing, and the Marshallese people and other activist groups continue to call on the country to do so.
“Today, the Marshallese people draw upon this history, including the devastating impacts of climate change in our islands, to advocate for change,” Ambassador Kattil said. “Our people and country hope that no other nation experiences the suffering we live with,” she said.
The memorial comes shortly after the U.S. finalized the renewal of the Compact of Free Association agreements (COFA) with the Marshall Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, and Palau.
President of the Marshall Islands Student Association Dexter Johnney shows a guest a photo exhibit commemorating nuclear testing victims on Friday. (Taiwan News, Jono Thomson photo)
Under the COFA agreements, citizens of the three Pacific Island nations have the right to live and work anywhere in the U.S. In exchange for these rights and economic aid, the U.S. is given control over the countries’ defense, allowing the U.S. military access to their territory when requested.
Ambassador Kattil told Taiwan News that initially, COFA negotiations became stuck on the issue of compensation for nuclear testing. “But my government was adamant,” she said, that if provisions related to nuclear testing were not included, there would be no deal.
Ambassador Kattil said there is a lot that remains unknown about the scale of U.S. nuclear testing in her country. “We say ‘67 known nuclear bombs’ because that’s all we know of, there may be more, and the United States is yet to declassify all of the documents from the nuclear testing period."
Despite the pursuit for justice, Ambassador Kattil said the U.S. remains one of the Marshall Islands’ closest friends. She described the Marshall Islands as a very loyal partner.
Dexter Johnney, president of the Marshall Islands Student Association, also spoke at the event. He told Taiwan News that the harmful legacy of nuclear testing and the strong bilateral ties between his country and the U.S. create a “strange and unique” relationship.
Johnney highlighted the provision in the COFA agreement that allows young Marshallese to study and work in the U.S. He said through this agreement Marshallese people can find better opportunities than are available at home.
However, he agreed the trade-off was a difficult one.
“You can’t really turn down a relationship with the U.S. right now,” he said. “It’s in our best interests to keep that relationship strong.”
He said older Marshallese are more likely to still feel “disdain” for the U.S. government. “But as the younger generation becomes more globally aware, in a sense we are starting to not only take note of our history, but learn to forgive, while acknowledging what happened.”
Johnney said that while in Taiwan he has met many people who have never heard of the Marshall Islands, so few understand the country’s history and legacy of nuclear testing. “That’s why we try to do what we can to promote awareness about this," he said.
The film “Nuclear Savage: The Islands of Secret Project 4.1” was shown at the memorial event, before a photo exhibition was opened depicting the Marshall Islands’ history of nuclear testing and its aftermath. The exhibition can be viewed by the public in Tamkang University’s Ching Sheng Memorial Hall.