China is ramping up objections to what it sees as Japan’s desire to acquire nuclear weapons, despite Tokyo’s long-standing renunciation of such arms, deepening another fissure in the two neighbors’ increasingly tense ties.
In what appears to be a concerted effort, China’s foreign and defense ministries issued statements on Thursday condemning alleged re-militarism efforts by Tokyo. The remarks came as two of the country’s top think tanks jointly issued a 29-page report framing recent actions by "right-wing forces” in Japan as posing a "serious threat” to world peace.
While that report didn’t define "right-wing forces,” the Chinese Foreign Ministry was more explicit. Spokesperson Mao Ning said Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and other senior officials had revealed their ambitions by seeking to revise the three nonnuclear principles, discussing the potential introduction of nuclear-powered submarines and calling for boosting "extended deterrence.”
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