BEIJING, (Xinhua) — The strong calls from Japanese local assemblies to uphold the Three Non-Nuclear Principles reflect the public aspiration for peace, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Monday at a regular press briefing.
Lin made the remarks in response to a question regarding that since the Takaichi administration came to power, a total of 82 local assemblies across Japan including those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki have submitted written opinions to the central government or the parliament, urging the administration to uphold Japan’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles or enshrine them into law.
Lin said such voices also show that the Japanese ruling authorities’ wrong choice of departing from the pacifist constitution and accelerating remilitarization is unpopular.
If the Japanese ruling authorities keep misjudging the situation on nuclear issues and persist in revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles to allow the deployment of allied nuclear weapons in Japan, such moves will not only pose a grave provocation to the post-WWII order and the global nuclear non-proliferation regime, but also run counter to Japan’s own peaceful pledges and widespread domestic public opinion, and Japan will inevitably pay a heavy price in the end, he added.
Lin stated that as a non-nuclear-weapon party state to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), Japan bears indisputable, undeniable and non-negotiable obligations under international law to refrain from receiving, manufacturing, acquiring or transferring nuclear weapons.
“Takaichi in February this year reiterated the commitment to the three non-nuclear principles. Japanese delegates attending the Review Conference of the Parties to the NPT in May reaffirmed the stance of making no changes to the three non-nuclear principles. The world will wait and see whether Japan could honor its words that are still ringing in our ears,” he said.
Lin said China calls on the international community and all peace-loving people in Japan to urge the Japanese authorities to earnestly abide by its NPT obligations, completely abandon remilitarization and the intention to possess nuclear weapons, stop pushing to revise the three non-nuclear principles, stop the so-called “extended deterrence” cooperation with other countries, not to seek the introduction of allies’ nuclear weapons to Japan and immediately take effective steps to address the great imbalance between the supply and demand of sensitive nuclear materials so as to earn trust from its Asian neighbors and the international community with concrete actions.
