Japan's remarks trigger alarm

Hiroshima marked the 81st anniversary of the atomic bombing by the United States with a memorial ceremony on Thursday, amid mounting domestic opposition to recent pro-nuclear remarks by senior Japanese officials.

Experts said Japan's increasingly open discussion of once-taboo nuclear issues appears aimed at gauging public opinion and paving the way for reconsidering postwar security principles, including the country's long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles. They urged Tokyo to uphold the principles and abandon cooperation with other countries under the so-called nuclear "extended deterrence".

Meanwhile, China slammed Japanese right-wing forces on Thursday for politically exploiting the nation's identity as a nuclear bombing victim for sympathy and seeking possession of nuclear weapons, while urging Tokyo to earnestly fulfill its nuclear nonproliferation obligations under international law.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian said in an online statement that the Japanese authorities have been recently boosting military buildup, seeking enhanced nuclear protection from the US, and attempting to break free from the Three Non-Nuclear Principles.

Right-wing forces in Japan have long been distorting historical facts and deliberately downplaying Japan's invasion, which killed and wounded tens of millions of people in Japan's neighboring countries, in an attempt to escape accountability for the war, he said.

Attending the commemoration ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said that Japan, as the only country to have suffered atomic bombings in wartime, has a mission to continue working toward a world without nuclear weapons.

But when asked after the memorial ceremony whether the non-nuclear principles would be reviewed during this year's revision of the government's three key national security documents, Takaichi declined to answer directly, according to the newspaper The Asahi Shimbun. "It would not be appropriate for me to prejudge how the documents will be worded," she said.

Hiroshima Mayor Kazumi Matsui highlighted the catastrophic consequences of nuclear weapons and called for nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament through multilateral efforts.

However, neither Takaichi nor Matsui mentioned the historical context behind the bombing of Hiroshima.

On Aug 6 and 9, 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, to hasten Japan's surrender in World War II.

Hiroshi Shiratori, a professor of political science at Hosei University in Tokyo, said that Japan has long regarded the fact that Hiroshima was the first city in the world to suffer a nuclear attack and Nagasaki the last as a central part of its national historical narrative.

Shiratori said he believes that the recent nuclear-related remarks by Japanese government officials are, to some extent, aimed at testing public opinion.

Last month, Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi went so far as to say that Japan should discuss its nuclear policy "without taboos", including whether to revise the Three Non-Nuclear Principles that Japan has adhered to for decades.

In December, a senior Japanese official in charge of security and defense at the Prime Minister's Office told reporters that Japan should have nuclear weapons.

Shiratori said the government is gradually reshaping Japan's long-held anti-nuclear sentiment through incremental remarks on nuclear policy. He added that easing restrictions under the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology and expanding arms exports suggest that the Takaichi administration does not necessarily place sufficient importance on Japan's long-standing pacifist principles.

Since Takaichi took office in October last year, her administration has advanced revisions to Japan's three key national security documents while repeatedly raising the possibility of reviewing the "no introduction" principle under the Three Non-Nuclear Principles, arguing that such a move would strengthen the credibility of the US' extended nuclear deterrence.

Under deterrence arrangements, Washington pledges to defend Japan with the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear.

Formally adopted by the Japanese parliament in 1971, the principles prohibit Japan from possessing, producing or permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into its territory.

The strong anti-nuclear and anti-war sentiment among the Japanese public stands in sharp contrast to the Takaichi administration's increasingly assertive security agenda.

The Tokyo Shimbun reported that since Takaichi took office, at least 128 local assemblies in 36 prefectures have submitted written opinions to the Japanese parliament urging the government to uphold the principles, which is a record high.

Ukeru Magosaki, director of the East Asian Community Institute in Tokyo and a former Japanese foreign ministry official, told China Daily that Japan's security is built on the principles. "Adhering to the principles poses no threat to neighboring countries and is therefore more conducive to Japan's own security. That is why I oppose any attempt to weaken them," he said.

Magosaki said the ongoing Japan-US consultations on nuclear deterrence would not reduce Japan's risk of a nuclear attack. Instead, he argued, they are intended to expand Washington's options for launching nuclear strikes against other nuclear-armed states, making Japan more likely to become a target.

Contact the writers at houjunjie@chinadaily.com.cn