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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.Abe renews pledge of nuclear weapons free Japan
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© (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015.
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BertieWooster
Is Japan nuclear free?
Really?
toshiko
@BertieWoosterAUG. 10, 2015 - 08:41AM JST Is Japan nuclear free? Really?
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You sound hoping Japan to be with full of nuclear weapons !
smithinjapan
Shame about the Defense Minister, though!
shallots
The LDP never followed the three principles. Hypocrite. Japan always supports the American "nuclear umbrella" and discourages any decommissioning of U.S. nuclear weapons. Japan is as pro-nuclear weapons as a country can get (without actually having them). The LDP allowed the U.S. to bring them in and lied about it for 50 years. Total hypocrite.
nath
japan is dumb, keep relying on usa they will kill all of you
toshiko
@shallotsAUG. 10, 2015 - 09:16AM JS
The LDP never followed the three principles. Hypocrite. Japan always supports the American "nuclear umbrella" and discourages any decommissioning of U.S. nuclear weapons. Japan is as pro-nuclear weapons as a country can get (without actually having them). The LDP allowed the U.S. to bring them in and lied about it for 50 years. Total hypocrite..
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Where which cirt) US nuclear weapons are stashed in Japan?
Serrano
"Abe has said the statement will express “remorse” for Japan’s wartime actions but domestic media reported over the weekend that the word “apology” will not be included."
Former Prime Minister Murayama would include an apology.
SenseNotSoCommon
Toshiko,
The DPJ spilled the beans on just how trustworthy the LDP are:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124567404
Meiyouwenti
In the event of nuclear catastrophy, it is highly unlikely that the US would sacrifice Los Angeles or New York for Tokyo or Osaka.
Maybe it's about time for Japan to have its own nukes.
wanderlust
In the past, the US kept weapons and spares down in caves on the Ogasawara Islands, Chichi-jima and Iwo-jima, which was accidentally revealed when a badly redacted paper appeared in 1977. They were also the reload station for the Regulus/ BlueBird missiles, an early Cruise missile carried by old diesel submarines. There was a confidential agreement between the US and Japan PM of the time, Eisaku Sato, suitably vague to provide plausible deniability. Some were also kept in a barge off Kyushu for use by airplanes at Iwakuni. It's all documented in the public domain now.
Of course, nowadays, the policy is to neither confirm nor deny the presence, so who knows?
gogogo
spin spin spin... US airbases are US soil. Think about that.
Triring
wanderlust
Pretty much irrelevant since the USN besides their SSBN are not carrying any nukes any more. They removed them pretty much after the cold war had ended.
fds
if push comes to shove with china, i wouldn't count on the u.s. to defend japan. u.s. pledged to defend the ukraine if they gave up their nukes and look what it got them, economic sanctions...not quite the same.
elephant200
<>ABE is lying, do not believes him. Japan is a platform for US nuclear warfare and aggressions in east asia this is for sure.
Triring
gogogo
Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles, to accept, to produce and to purchase no nuclear weapons is pretty much straight forward and US bases in Japan ARE NOT US soil. The only place considered US soil in Japan and/or any other nations are their embassies.
Jandworld
Would he pledge nuclear electric-free on these shaking grounds over here, maybe the Greens of EU could live with such an islander more comfortable.
shallots
Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles, to accept, to produce and to purchase no nuclear weapons is pretty much straight forward and US bases in Japan ARE NOT US soil. The only place considered US soil in Japan and/or any other nations are their embassies.
Um, it is not to possess, manufacture or permit nukes in its territory. Japanese companies have aided the manufacture of nukes and nukes have been permitted into Japanese territory. Lying about it for so many years should give you a clue to the extent of the hypocrisy. The 4 pillars policy rather contradicts the three pillars doesn't it? ...especially when Japanese governments have argued against a global "no first-strike agreement" or even the decommissioning of American nukes that serve no realistic military function. Nope. As far as I can see, Japan is an ardently pro-nuclear country if you judge it on the basis of it's policies and actions for the last fifty years.
Yubaru
I just spit up all over my computer. How can he say with with a straight face when he has US nuclear powered aircraft carriers stationed in Japan. Oh right....not on the "soil", semantics, but covering his butt. BUT....
Ever hear of Okinawa?
shallots
@Yubaru Certainly nukes have been permitted onto Japanese territory (though they lied and said otherwise). Additionally, Japanese companies have been caught aiding in the production of nuclear weapons. But they whole policy of opposing any reductions and then saying they're against nukes is so deceptive, disingenuous, untruthful, misleading, hypocritical, etc. The PMs, politicians, and bureaucrats are just baldfaced liars. But what do you call it when someone holds contradictory beliefs? Cognitive dissonance? Some people seem to be suffering from that, if that's what you call it.
MyTimeIsYourTime
I am pro nuclear. It has prevented a lot of possible trouble. However, I do believe nuclear bombs will be used again. Inevitable. Human nature. Our problem with being able to make good choices and bad.
Illyas
Reminds me of gun control. If you're against people owning guns but are okay with the police having them, you're not really against guns, you just want one specific group to have a monopoly on them. Likewise, being against owning or possessing nuclear weapons yet relying on the US nuclear umbrella is contradictory. You're not in favor of a nuclear-free world, but one in which nuclear weapons are limited to a select few great powers.
elephant200
What are you going to do with some countries who were ambiguous of their nuclear arsenals? China wont tell you how many pieces they owned and the israelis wont tell you their possession of such weapons.
nath
Sigh. Are there really people that believe this drivel, or is it just an NRA talking point to try to distract people?
Triring
shallots
Curious where you got this idea.Which japanese company made what may I ask?
overchan
We don't need nuclear weapons in the meantime. But if the world starts going downhill, we have the techbology to produce them. We have enough plutonium to make 5,500 nuclear weapons and we have the Epsilon rocket (a copy of the MX Peacekeeper).
ThonTaddeo
Abe can't even complete the first sentence of his speech without resorting to the Japan-as-victim, persecution-complex rhetoric.
shallots
@Triring I don't know if I'm allowed to post links to the Japan Times but you can google off of the following titles:
"Japan firms played into khans nuclear hands" which begins "Japanese companies played a key role in supplying equipment used for Pakistan's nuclear arms program" and "U.S. halted sale of nuke equipment to Pakistan" which begins "A Tokyo trading house extensively involved in exporting equipment to Pakistan for use in its clandestine nuclear arms program..." another interesting one is titled: "Japan will not join initiative put before U.N. to make nuclear weapons illegal" and "Japan balks at limits on U.S. nukes" I should say that a friend made me aware of this stuff. I don't take credit for putting this list together. Needless to say, these are not conspiracy theories but widely reported
lucabrasi
The horrible truth is that, give it ten years and Japan will be wanting nukes. As a natural out coming of the current environment.
Triring
shallots
They are talking about centrifuge that was illegally exported to Pakistan. It's an industrial equipment but can be used for military application although it was not designed for it.
Basically the Japanese government nor the traders knew the actual intent beforehand or they would not have allowed export of those equipments.
shallots
@Triring From the article: "Japanese manufacturers knowingly and unknowingly helped Pakistan acquire nuclear capability and were incorporated into its supply framework."
Cogito Ergo Sum
What a load of cr@p!! Japan is NOT a nuclear free country.
Kenny Iyekawa
"As the only nation in the world to have suffered a war-time nuclear attack..."
@ThonTaddeo The fact is Japan was victim of war-time nuclear attack...that is fact. But don't shed any tears over it.
Triring
shallots
That is your own belief. No they had no foreknowledge on what Pakistan was going to use the centrifuge for since there are various applications for that equipment and the Japanese government certainly had no knowledge.
shallots
@Triring "That is your own belief."
No, It's from the article. Also, see the PTI report "Japanese firms played key role in Pakistan's nuclear programme" (which relies on Kyodo). "Investigations revealed that both Khan and the head of the Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission visited Japan at least once in the 1980s to shop for their respective programmes...Khan, dubbed the 'father of Pakistan's nuclear programme,' told Kyodo in a written interview that Khan Research Laboratories acquired a wide range of machines, laboratory equipment and metal products from Japan." Adding this point to the others, it is plain that Japan has always had a pro-nuclear stance vis a vis the "nuclear umbrella" and an anti-nonproliferation stance vis a vis nuclear technology and vis a vis international efforts like those of the ICNND against "first strike." Also, see the article in JT, "Japan eager for U.S. to keep nuke deterrence," Which reads in part, "Japan aggressively lobbied a U.S. congressional nuclear task force...that the capability to penetrate underground targets with low-yield nuclear devices would strengthen the umbrella's credibility...high-yield B61-11, which has about 20 times the explosive power of the Hiroshima atomic bomb... has the potential to be so destructive and devastating to civilian populations that most U.S. military analysts and officials consider it too powerful to use in battlegrounds." Triring, The strong desire to believe that Japanese policy really follows the three principles maybe be causing some cognitive dissonance here (my new favorite term).
Illyas
Sigh. Are there really people that believe this ad hominem fallacy, or do liberals not know how to construct an actual argument?
theeastisred
This has never been observed. Only two of the three principles are valid.