Two Chinese think tanks, the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) and the China Institute of Nuclear Industry Strategy (CINIS), issued a report warning the international community of Japan’s attempts to abandon its post-war declaration on refraining from developing nuclear weapons. The report, entitled, “Nuclear Ambitions of Japan’s Right-Wing Forces: A Serious Threat to World Peace,” outlines the changing position of Japanese political elements over the last few years on this matter.
After the Second World War, as a precondition for reentering the international community, Japan committed itself to neither possessing, producing, nor permitting the placement of nuclear weapons in Japan. The report shows that the preconditions exist for Japan to produce a nuclear weapon within a short period of time. The 8.6 tons of plutonium held in Japan (along with the 36 additional tons of Japanese plutonium held overseas) far exceeds the demand of their commercial nuclear industry and would be available instead for the production of a nuclear weapon. Japan also has access to advanced aircraft and missile systems, as well as extensive experience with rockets as part of its space program, that would allow it to deliver a nuclear weapon.
Japan is a non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
