NEW YORK ¨C A Chinese diplomat pledged to ¡°resolutely prevent Japan from acquiring nuclear weapons¡± at a review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) on Wednesday, calling on the international community to ¡°stay on high alert.¡±
Japan ¡°is pushing to revise its pacifist Constitution and three nonnuclear principles¡± and is seeking to deploy nuclear weapons on its territory by its allies, Sun Xiaobo, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry¡¯s Arms Control Department, said at the conference, being held at the U.N. headquarters in New York.
Another Chinese representative said that ¡°the issue of Japan¡¯s pursuit of nuclear weapons has become a reality rather than a potential threat¡± since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office last autumn, ¡°posing a serious challenge¡± to the post-World War II international order and a nuclear nonproliferation regime.
Tomiko Ichikawa, Japan¡¯s ambassador to the Conference on Disarmament, rebutted the claim by saying that ¡°the introduction of nuclear weapons (by Japan) is not permitted¡± under the three nonnuclear principles.
Ichikawa emphasized that ¡°Japan has been limiting its research, development and use of nuclear energy exclusively for peaceful purposes.¡±
Japan ¡°will continue to work closely with the international community to realize a world without nuclear weapons¡± and ¡°will continue to advance realistic and practical efforts to maintain and strengthen the NPT regime,¡± she said.
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