No pacifism: Japan plans to review nuclear taboo
The Japanese Defense Minister called for a discussion on the approach to nuclear weapons. He believes that it is necessary to start a broad discussion on moving away from the three principles of non-nuclear defense. This seriously worries Russia and China, as well as the opposition inside Japan. Details can be found in the Izvestia article.
The taboo was bursting at the seams
"This is a difficult issue for Japan to discuss, but we have no choice but to address it. We must act promptly and discuss and promote all political solutions without any taboos," said Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi.
Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi
He cited the revision of nuclear policy by other States as an example. The head of the Japanese Defense Ministry stressed that France continues to strengthen nuclear deterrence, and Finland has deployed atomic weapons on its territory "because of the threat from Russia."
Since the 1960s, Tokyo has adhered to three principles of non-nuclear defense: not to possess nuclear weapons, not to produce them, and not to allow deployment on Japanese territory. The Government of the country approved these norms, put forward by Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in 1967, but they are not considered law.
In return for adopting these principles, Japan, according to the 1960 security treaty, could rely on the nuclear deterrent power of the United States. In 1971, the country's parliament adopted a resolution reaffirming the nuclear-weapon-free principles. The National Security Strategy approved in 2022 emphasizes that the policy of observing non-nuclear principles "will remain unchanged in the future."
Militarization is in full swing
However, when hawkish Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi came to power last October, the situation began to change. The Head of government decided to update key doctrinal documents in the field of security, including in relation to nuclear weapons (NWS).
The current statement by the head of the Ministry of Defense has angered the opposition, which believes that Japan, as the only country that has been subjected to atomic bombing by the United States, should in no way allow the appearance of nuclear weapons on its territory.
As a result, 15 anti-nuclear associations of the country appealed in an open letter to abandon the idea of building their own nuclear submarine fleet, which the Japanese authorities plan to implement. The Defense Minister accused representatives of opposition parties and social movements advocating the preservation of the three non-nuclear principles of short-sightedness.
The Japanese media write that the departure from the principles "can be fixed doctrinally" by the end of this year — in the new National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Capability Plan.
Chinese media reported in the spring of this year that Tokyo is increasing the capacity of the defense industry at a dangerous pace. In particular, Japan has accumulated a stock of materials for the production of nuclear weapons. By the end of 2024, the country had 44.4 tons of plutonium. This is enough to create 5.5 thousand nuclear warheads.
The authors of the publication are confident that if Tokyo abolishes the three principles of non-nuclear defense, the country can de facto become a nuclear state in the shortest possible time.
Moscow and Beijing are concerned
What is happening worries Russia and China. The Russian Foreign Ministry has repeatedly stated that it has a negative attitude towards the possibility of Japan acquiring nuclear weapons.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko reported that the militarization of this island state could only worsen the situation in Northeast Asia, as well as lead to appropriate countermeasures from countries for which such militarization poses a threat.
And Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stressed: "The fact that Japan, which has embarked on the path of active remilitarization, has already, in fact, launched the process of revising three non-nuclear principles, which for many years have been positioned as one of the pillars of Tokyo's pacifist policy, which is now dying out, requires special attention."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian took a similar position. He called the initiative of the head of the Japanese Defense Ministry extremely provocative and dangerous. In his opinion, it undermines Japan's non-nuclear principles and threatens the post-war international order.
He also pointed out the inconsistency of Shinjiro Koizumi, who at international forums emphasized commitment to non-nuclear principles and defense policy. In his opinion, the actions of the current Japanese authorities jeopardize the international nuclear nonproliferation regime.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping during a conversation at the People's Assembly House in Beijing.
This was also stated in a joint statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping following a meeting in Beijing on May 20. They expressed concern about "Japan's long-term large-scale accumulation of sensitive nuclear materials in the absence of reliable evidence of their civilian use." The leaders stressed that they remain vigilant against the unacceptable ambitions and extremely provocative steps of Japan's right-wing forces to revise the three non-nuclear principles.
The risk for the United States itself
Liu Chao, an expert at the Liaoning Academy of Social Sciences, noted that Koizumi's statement "represents another step in a dangerous trend that poses serious risks to neighboring countries and global security."
"The country is not just seeking the protection of the United States, instead it is actively including nuclear issues in the restructuring of its national security policy," he said.
In his opinion, a nuclear-armed Japan would pose significant risks to the United States itself.
"This development should serve as a warning to Japan's neighboring countries, the international community, and some Western countries, led by the United States, that Japanese militarism has not disappeared," the political scientist believes.
Zhang Debing, director and professor of the Center for Korean Peninsula Studies at Shanghai University of International Trade and Economics, believes that "if Washington allows Japan to break nuclear taboos and give its right-wing forces greater freedom of action in shaping security policy, the United States may completely lose control of Japan's military adventurism in the future."
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