Japan should have nuclear weapons, PM's security adviser reportedly says

The official cited Japan's worsening security environment, pointing to China's expanding nuclear arsenal, Russia's nuclear threat and North Korea's ongoing development of nuclear weapons

By Sakura Murakami

 

A senior government official who advises Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on security expressed a personal opinion that Japan should have nuclear weapons, according to local media reports.  

The official added that there was no discussion within the government on that possibility and acknowledged that it would be realistically difficult to achieve, the reports said. Media outlets including Kyodo News, public broadcaster NHK and the Asahi newspaper reported the remark as a comment made by an unnamed government official to reporters on Thursday.

 

The comments come at a sensitive time for Japan amid a tense security environment in East Asia. Tokyo and Beijing are currently locked in a simmering dispute over comments Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi made about Taiwan and the theoretical possibility of Japan aiding other countries in a contingency.

 

The person mentioned the increasingly severe nature of Japan’s security environment, pointing to China’s increasing nuclear capabilities, the nuclear threat from Russia, and the development of nuclear weapons in North Korea, the Asahi report said. Ultimately it was up to Japan to defend itself, the official was quoted as saying in the Kyodo report. 

 

When asked at a regular press briefing about the reports, Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara said the government upholds the long-standing commitment to not possess, produce, or permit the entry of nuclear weapons. 

 

“We will not comment on individual news reports. The government will continue to uphold the Three Non-Nuclear Principles,” he said. 

 

While Takaichi has confirmed that the government abides by the three principles, she hasn’t given a clear answer on whether the commitment to those principles will remain unchanged as the government seeks to overhaul its national defense strategy. She has said this is not the time for her to specify what the wording around the new strategy might be. 

 

The unnamed official acknowledged that an overhaul of the three principles would come with huge political costs and would be very difficult, the reports said. Takaichi is probably not considering revising it, the person said, according to NHK. 

 

The United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in the final weeks of the Pacific War. Although exact figures remain unconfirmed, estimates by the local governments put the figure of those who perished after the bombing of Hiroshima at 140,000 and Nagasaki at 70,000, with lasting effects on those who survived.

 

Japan remains the only country to have suffered wartime nuclear attacks and has strong sensitivities over nuclear weapons. 

 

Polls show that the public by and large wants to see the three principles unchanged. About 70 per cent of respondents agreed at least in part that Japan should stick to its current nuclear principles, in a poll by the Asahi newspaper conducted earlier this year. Of those respondents, 45 per cent firmly agreed and 24 per cent said they leaned toward agreeing. 

 

A separate poll by Nikkei conducted in late November put the percentage of respondents who wanted to see the principles unchanged at 46 per cent, while 39 per cent responded that Japan should revise its principle of not permitting the entry of nuclear weapons. 

 

“We have consistently contributed to the peace and prosperity of the global community, and there is no change to that stance,” Kihara said in the press briefing held Friday. 

 

“As the only country that has suffered a nuclear attack, we will take realistic and practical steps to maintain and strengthen the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty structure, towards a world free of nuclear weapons,” he added.