Photo: Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun

China on Wednesday strongly condemned remarks by Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi calling for discussions without taboos on Japan possessing nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered submarines. It stressed that Japan, as a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), has non-negotiable international legal obligations not to accept, manufacture, possess or proliferate nuclear weapons.

Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun made the remarks at a regular press conference when asked to comment on reports that Koizumi said on September 28 that discussions on possessing nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered submarines should not be excluded when revising Japan’s “three security documents,” and that such discussions should be conducted without taboos or predetermined conclusions, claiming that “the idea that we aren’t even allowed to have a discussion on this matter is a bit at odds with my sense of crisis.”

“First of all, whether Japan possesses nuclear weapons is not a matter for the Japanese side to discuss as it wishes,” Guo said.

Japan is a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT. Not accepting, not manufacturing, not possessing and not proliferating nuclear weapons constitute Japan’s inescapable international legal obligations, with no room for bargaining, Guo stressed.

Guo noted that Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi reaffirmed Japan’s adherence to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles in February, and that Japanese representatives at the NPT Review Conference in May confirmed Japan would not change the principles. These statements are still fresh in people’s minds.

The spokesperson pointed out that the Japanese defense official’s remarks constitute a serious provocation against and flagrant violation of the NPT and the post-World War II international order. They seriously deviate from the Three Non-Nuclear Principles that Japan claims to uphold and once again expose the nuclear ambitions of Japanese right-wing forces.

In recent years, Japan has continuously accelerated its “remilitarization” process, seeking to abandon the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, strengthen “extended deterrence” arrangements, pursue the deployment of nuclear weapons on Japanese territory, and attempt to achieve gradual loosening of restrictions, constantly challenging the bottom line of the international community, Guo said.

This year marks the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials. History has not forgotten and will never forget the profound disasters that Japanese militarism brought to the people of Asia and the world, Guo emphasized.

Japanese right-wing forces keep challenging the post-World War II international order and the international nuclear non-proliferation regime, going further and further down the wrong path. The international community should urge Japan to strictly abide by the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, earnestly fulfill its obligations under the NPT, completely abandon its attempts at “remilitarization” and acquiring nuclear weapons, and earnestly respond to the solemn concerns of the international community, Guo said.


Global Times