Japan yesterday reaffirmed its decades-old pledge never to possess nuclear weapons after local media reported that a senior security official suggested the country should acquire them to deter potential aggressors.
The unnamed official said Japan needed nuclear weapons because of a worsening security environment, but acknowledged that such a move would be politically difficult, public broadcaster NHK and other outlets reported, describing the official as being from Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s office.
Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said Japan’s nuclear policy had not changed, but declined to comment on the remarks or to say whether the person would remain in their post amid calls from opposition leaders for the official to be removed.
Photo: AFP
There is a growing political and public willingness in Japan to loosen its three non-nuclear principles not to possess, develop or allow nuclear weapons into its territory, a Reuters investigation published in August found.
While it remains a highly sensitive subject in the only country to have suffered atomic bombings, doubts over the reliability of Washington’s security guarantees under US President Donald Trump and growing threats from nuclear-armed neighbors China, Russia and North Korea have reignited the debate.
Some lawmakers within Takaichi’s ruling party have said the US should be allowed to bring nuclear weapons into Japan on submarines or other platforms to reinforce deterrence.
Takaichi last month stirred debate on her own stance by declining to say whether there would be any changes to the three principles when her administration formulates a new defense strategy next year.
“Putting these trial balloons out creates an opportunity to start to build consensus around the direction to move on changes in security policy,” International Christian University politics professor Stephen Nagy said.
Beijing’s assertiveness and growing missile cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang are “creating the momentum to really change Japan’s thinking about security,” he added.
Taro Kono, a senior ruling party lawmaker and former defense and foreign affairs minister, said Japan should not shy away from a broader debate on the pros and cons of acquiring nuclear weapons.
Discussions about acquiring or hosting nuclear weapons have long been taboo due to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II and the country’s pacifist constitution adopted after its defeat.
Such discussions also risk drawing ire from neighboring countries such as China.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS