China Accuses Japan of Seeking Nuclear Weapons Deployment as NPT Review Conference Enters Second Week
China's Disarmament Ambassador Shen Jian told the NPT conference in New York on May 4 that Japan is seeking allied nuclear deployment on its territory, revising its nonnuclear principles, and expanding long-range strike capabilities, per China's state-run Global Times. A Chinese delegate at the same Main Committee II session cited a "sharp imbalance" between Japan's nuclear material production and consumption, Jiji Press reported. On April 30, a Chinese representative told the Japan Times that Japan's nuclear pursuit "has become a reality rather than a potential threat" since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi took office. Japan's Ambassador Tomiko Ichikawa rebutted the claims, citing the three nonnuclear principles and Japan's exclusive peaceful use of nuclear materials.
China's accusation that Japan seeks nuclear weapons deployment, delivered through its Disarmament Ambassador at the NPT Review Conference, opens a new blocking axis atop the existing nuclear-weapon-state versus non-nuclear-weapon-state tensions that have prevented consensus at the last two RevCons. The conference will