Beijing has stated that Tokyo must refrain from pursuing nuclear arms and “stop plunging further down the wrong path.”
China has cautioned Japan following reports that a senior official proposed the nation obtain nuclear weapons, warning such an action would “again bring disaster to the world.”
As cited by local media, an unnamed senior adviser to Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reportedly contended last week that Japan’s longstanding dependence on the U.S. nuclear umbrella may no longer be entirely dependable. The official suggested the country should possibly reconsider its post-World War II non-nuclear principles and seek its own deterrent capabilities.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry denounced the reported discussion on nuclear arms, labeling it another instance of “how Japanese right-wing forces are trying to ‘remilitarize’ and ‘rearm’ Japan.” Beijing called on Tokyo to “not seek to challenge the postwar international order and stop plunging further down the wrong path.”
“Some forces inside Japan have not only failed to reflect on Japan’s history of aggression but also been extremely unhappy about the postwar international arrangement. If the right-wing forces in Japan are left free to develop powerful offensive weapons, or even possess nuclear weapons, it will again bring disaster to the world,” the ministry declared in a statement.
Beijing’s admonition aligned with reactions from other regional neighbors to the reported comments. North Korea asserted that permitting Japan to gain nuclear weapons would cause “a great disaster,” while Russia indicated that a shift from Tokyo’s non-nuclear position would harm Northeast Asian security and elicit reactions from nations “threatened by that militarization.”
The reported remarks also met domestic criticism in Japan, the sole country to have suffered nuclear attacks. The statements were criticized by both governing and opposition parties, as well as by the atomic bomb survivors’ organization Nihon Hidankyo.
Soon after the media reports, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara restated the nation’s pledge to uphold its non-nuclear status, confirming no policy shifts were planned. He added that Tokyo would keep working on measures “to achieve a world without nuclear weapons.”