America and Japan: Cooperation or Tension in the Field of Nuclear Weapons?
In response to the Japanese official’s controversial remarks, a foreign ministry spokesman said, “The United States will maintain the world’s strongest, most credible and modern nuclear deterrent to protect itself and its allies, including Japan,” according to Kyodo.
The spokesman also described Japan as a “valuable partner of the United States” in “advancing nuclear arms control,” adding that the decades-old alliance between the two countries is “a cornerstone of peace and security in the Indo-Pacific.”
An official from Japan’s prime minister’s office supported the idea of Japan acquiring nuclear weapons in an informal conversation with reporters on Thursday. At the same time, the prime minister’s top national security adviser said the idea was unrealistic.
Amid the backlash, Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Minoru Kihara on Friday reiterated the country’s three non-nuclear principles, which include a ban on the possession, production or deployment of nuclear weapons on its soil. Japan is the only country to have been subjected to nuclear attacks, and the remarks come at a sensitive time as the ruling party and the Takaichi government, which came to power in October, plan to review Japan’s defense policy, including non-nuclear principles.