China Criticizes Japanese Official's Remarks on Nuke Principles

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, June 04, 2002

China Criticizes Japanese Official's Remarks on Nuke Principles

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Monday that people are "stunned" by recent comments by a senior Japanese official on the country's non-nuclear policy that "it is possible for Japan to possess nuclear weapons".

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Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kong Quan said Monday that people are "stunned" by recent comments by a senior Japanese official on the country's non-nuclear policy.

Kong made the remarks when asked to comment on the allegation by the senior Japanese official that "it is possible for Japan to possess nuclear weapons" according to its constitution.

The spokesman said such remarks would not only be extensively opposed by Japanese people but also arouse great concern among its near neighbours in Asia and among all peace-loving people in the world.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's right-hand man Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda admitted Monday he told reporters on Friday that Tokyo might one day abandon its decades-old non-nuclear policy.

"I made the remark with hopes that young journalists would start seriously thinking about the future,'' he told a press conference.

"The principles are just like the constitution. But in the face of calls to amend the constitution, the amendment of the principles is also likely,'' he said, according to Kyodo News agency.

"Japan does not have offensive arms (such as long-range missiles and atomic bombs) as it restricts its military activity to self-defence,'' Fukuda said.

He added, however, that Japan's defence-only policy does not mean Japan cannot possess such weapons.

The Japanese government had made serious commitments on its decades-long three non-nuclear principles, namely, the non-possession, non-production and non-importation of nuclear weapons.

Remarks against global disarmament and world peace

Today, with peace and development as the main trend of the times and progress in international nuclear disarmament, Kong said such remarks made by the Japanese official are "shocking".

These remarks have drawn widespread resistance inside Japan and aroused grave concern in neighboring Asian countries and among all peace-loving people worldwide, the spokesman added.

"We are convinced that the Japanese people are able to proceed from their fundamental interests and make their own correct judgment and choice accordingly," he said.

Meantime, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi Monday tried to calm the furor over the reported comments. He reiterated that Japan will adhere to its three "no nuclear weapons'' principles, Kyodo News reported.

"What has given rise to this controversy? I have said I have no plans to revise the principles,'' the premier told reporters at his office.

Nuclear weapons are the most sensitive issue in Japan, Japanese people are strongly against them.

Since the nuclear accident in Ibaraki Prefecture in 1999, the country's most serious nuclear leakage accident, Japanese citizens have lost confidence in the nuclear industry and have asked the government to reduce or stop nuclear power plant construction.

On Saturday, an unidentified high-ranking official of the Republic of Korea reaffirmed the country's consistent stand against Japan's possession of nuclear weapons, saying that the nuclear arming of Japan would be "detrimental to security in the region.''

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