On Thursday, an unnamed senior advisor to Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi set off a firestorm when he told reporters that Japan should possess nuclear weapons. According to the Asahi Shimbun, the official stressed that he was only expressing his own view and that no discussions on nuclear weapons are currently underway within the Takaichi administration.
The official cited China’s alleged nuclear buildup, the nuclear threat from Russia, and North Korea’s continuing missile and nuclear development programs. However, the official said acquiring nuclear weapons would be difficult due to Japan’s relationship with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) regime, which recognizes only five nuclear powers—the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China. The official also noted that significant political will would be needed to review Japan’s three non-nuclear principles.
Not only did the official’s comments spark an angry reaction from China, but inside Japan itself, the opposition called for the official’s dismissal. Yoshihiko Noda, leader of the main opposition Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan, pointed out at a news conference that Takaichi has not explicitly said she stands by the three principles, reported Jiji Press. “It’s problematic that someone with such ideas is close to the prime minister,” Noda said of the senior official. “He or she should step down as soon as possible.” The leaders of Komeito and the Japanese Communist Party also issued similar statements.
In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun noted that China was well aware of reports of the Japanese official’s remarks. “For some time, we’ve been witnessing erroneous remarks and moves from the Japanese side on military and security issues, who revamped security and defense policies, removed the ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense, and attempted to once again acquire nuclear weapons from allies through strengthening cooperation on ‘extended deterrence,’ seeking ‘nuclear sharing,’ revising the three non-nuclear principles and other means,” he said during a press briefing yesterday. “Right-wing conservative forces in Japan are floating the idea of owning nuclear weapons—another case in point of their inflated ambition to revive militarism, break free from international order and speed up re-militarization.”
Japan in its own narrative claims to have been the victim of nuclear weapons in World War II but “in fact the Japanese side has never completely reflected on the wars of aggression it has waged, and has become the source of instability that challenges the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and undermines the international nuclear non-proliferation regime,” Guo continued. “The international community must be clear-eyed about Japan’s hypocritical stance on nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament.”
In Tokyo the response to the official’s remarks has left the government backpedaling. Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara told a press conference that the government’s policy is to maintain the so-called three non-nuclear principles, which prohibit possessing, producing, or permitting the introduction of nuclear arms.
Asked whether the official in question should remain in their post, Kihara was evasive and only said he will refrain from commenting on “each and every media report.”
