China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday issued the Working Paper on the Issue of Japan’s Nuclear Armament, laying bare Japan’s dangerous nuclear ambitions, its problematic remarks and moves, and warning that such tendencies pose a grave challenge and blatant provocation to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime with the NPT as its cornerstone, the outcomes of the victory of World War II, and the post-war international order.
The Working Paper documents a series of deeply worrying developments in Japan in recent years. Senior Japanese officials have openly discussed revising the country’s three non-nuclear principles (namely not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons). In late 2025, a senior official from the Prime Minister’s Office publicly claimed that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, laying bare the nuclear ambition of Japan’s right-wing forces and challenging the bottom line of the international community, the Working Paper notes.
The document points out that Japan has also been trying to enhance the so-called extended deterrence cooperation, eyeing nuclear-powered submarines and coveting the so-called nuclear sharing arrangements which could lead to the redeployment of nuclear weapons in Japan. It stresses that the international community must remain highly vigilant of and firmly oppose these provocative words and actions designed to test the response of the international community.
The Working Paper notes that Japan’s nuclear aspiration is long‑standing. Japan secretly conducted nuclear weapons research and development during World War II. Right‑wing figures in Japan have even laid out detailed strategies for achieving independent nuclear armament. Today, Japan masters the reprocessing technology, possesses the technical capability to produce weapons-grade plutonium, owns operational reprocessing plant, and consistently manufactures and stockpiles plutonium far beyond civilian needs. This places Japan only inches away from crossing the nuclear threshold.
Citing the Status Report of Plutonium Management in Japan 2024, which was released by Japan’s Office of Atomic Energy Policy of the Cabinet Office in August 2025, the Working Paper says that as of the end of 2024, the total amount of separated plutonium both managed within and outside Japan was approximately 44.4 tons, approximately 8.6 tons of which was held domestically and the rest of approximately 35.8 tons was held abroad, including 21.7 tons in the United Kingdom and 14.1 tons in France. In addition, Japan’s stockpiled spent fuel contains 191 tons of unseparated plutonium.
Under the Cairo Declaration, the Potsdam Proclamation, the Japanese Instrument of Surrender and the Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Japan is legally obligated to remain disarmed and refrain from pursuing nuclear weapons in any form, says the paper.
It emphasizes that Japan’s problematic statements and actions for possessing nuclear weapons seriously violate its international legal obligations. Japan has shown glaring hypocrisy on nuclear arms control, and more importantly, posed a grave challenge and blatant provocation to the international nuclear non-proliferation regime with the NPT as its cornerstone, the outcomes of the victory of World War II, and the post-war international order.
The Working Paper further warns that Japan has never thoroughly repented on its history of aggression during World War II, and in fact does not accept its status as a defeated country. It has continuously boosted military spending, opened the door to the export of offensive weapons, and shown “alarming signs of a resurgence of neo‑militarism.”
“If the country is pushed by unchecked right-wing forces toward developing powerful offensive weapons and even nuclear weapons, it will wreak more havoc on the international community and gravely damage international peace, security and stability,” reads the Working Paper.
Regarding the situation, China calls on all States Parties to the NPT to maintain high vigilance and firmly oppose Japan’s pursuit of nuclear weapons, says the Working Paper.
The Working Paper urges the NPT Review Conference to seriously consider Japan’s dangerous nuclear inclination and its negative impact on the NPT; to urge Japan to reaffirm its NPT obligations and the Three Non‑Nuclear Principles, not to seek nuclear weapons in any way, not to develop nuclear submarines, and not to seek the introduction and deployment of nuclear weapons within Japan’s territory.
It also urges the NPT Review Conference to redress Japan’s issue of great imbalance between the supply and demand of sensitive nuclear materials and eliminate proliferation risks; strengthen IAEA safeguards and verification over Japan’s non-peaceful nuclear activities.
The Working Paper calls on all States Parties to the NPT to consider Japan’s strong intention of seeking nuclear weapons, and thus to exercise caution when engaging in nuclear energy cooperation with Japan, so as to earnestly uphold the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.
It also urges the Japanese government to responsibly and properly handle the issue of the discharge of the Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water into the ocean, which concerns the health of all humanity, the global marine environment and the international public interest.
