Leading Chinese think tanks released a report on Thursday in Beijing, warning of rising nuclear weapon ambitions by Japan's right-wing forces and calling on the international community to closely monitor and counter the threat. The report highlights Japan's recent attempts to revise its three non-nuclear principles, raising concerns over the international nuclear nonproliferation regime.
The report, titled "Nuclear Ambitions of Japan's Right-Wing Forces: A Serious Threat to World Peace," was jointly issued by the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association (CACDA) and the China Institute of Nuclear Industry Strategy (CINIS). It urges nations to "thwart any dangerous attempt to revive Japanese militarism and to jointly safeguard the postwar international order and the international nuclear nonproliferation regime."
Experts noted that recent months have seen several risky moves from Tokyo, including Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's efforts to revise the country's three non-nuclear principles—not to possess, produce, or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons on Japanese territory. Last month, a senior Japanese Cabinet official responsible for security affairs told Japanese media that the nation should have its own nuclear weapons.
When asked by China Daily about Tokyo's intentions and how countries like China should respond, Dai Huaicheng, secretary-general of CACDA, said: "The recent series of irresponsible statements (by Japanese officials) are not isolated incidents. It is not convincing to say that these are just personal words and deeds. These comprise a carefully crafted move aimed at testing the bottom line of international fairness and justice, as well as the bottom line of peace-loving people."
According to the report, Japan "has established a complete nuclear fuel cycle and possesses relatively advanced nuclear industrial capabilities, enabling it to produce weapons-grade plutonium." Zhao Xuelin, a senior engineer at CINIS, added: "Japan also possesses operational platforms capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as the technical foundations for the development of nuclear-powered submarines and aircraft carriers."
Luo Qingping, chairman of CINIS, stated that Japan's right-wing forces' attempts to revise the three non-nuclear principles and advocate for nuclear possession "gravely challenges the authority and effectiveness of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, undermining the efforts of upholding the international nuclear nonproliferation regime."
The 2026 Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT is scheduled from April 27 to May 22 at the United Nations headquarters in New York. In a 10-point recommendation, the report calls on the conference to carefully consider the issue of Japan and urges Prime Minister Takaichi to clarify her "dangerous nuclear-related remarks." It also presses the International Atomic Energy Agency to intensify inspections of Japan's nuclear materials and activities.
Guo Xiaobing, director of the Center for Arms Control Studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, observed that Japan has long portrayed itself as the sole victim of atomic bombings in World War II, while pursuing and maintaining the capability to develop and produce nuclear weapons.
The report's release underscores tensions in China-Japan relations amid global nuclear nonproliferation concerns.
