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Alarming Calls for Japan to Host U.S. Nuclear Weapons
Anti-war protest in Hiroshima during then U.S. President Obama’s visit
Former Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe, who is still influential, has called for Japan to consider hosting U.S. nuclear weapons. He justified his call using the conflict in Ukraine and also by raising the issue of Taiwan’s security. Forces like Abe are echoing promotion in U.S. ruling circles of the disinformation that China plans to “invade” Taiwan. This is in part to undermine the long-standing U.S. and United Nations policy of one China, of which Taiwan is a part. Abe is now using the nuclear threat to justify the militarization of Japan and elimination of its constitutional ban on the use of force, something he has long promoted.
Given what nuclear weapons did to Japan and its people, this is a cruel proposal.
“In NATO, Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy take part in nuclear sharing, hosting American nuclear weapons,” Abe said on March 1 in a TV interview, Nikkei Asia reported. “We need to understand how security is maintained around the world and not consider it taboo to have an open discussion,” he added.
Japan currently upholds the stand that it will not produce or possess nuclear weapons or allow them on its territory. Japan’s current Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida, quickly rejected Abe’s call for a debate on the nuclear-sharing option.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin, immediately told reporters in Beijing: “Japanese politicians have frequently spread fallacies related to Taiwan and even blatantly made false remarks that violate the nation’s three non-nuclear principles.” He added, “We strongly ask Japan to deeply reflect on its history.” He warned Tokyo to “be cautious in words and deeds on the Taiwan issue to stop provoking trouble.”
China’s Global Times in an editorial said Abe was attempting to “unlock” Japanese militarism. “It is not only ironic, but also a huge real risk, that a group of people in the only country in the world that was bombed by atomic bombs would call for an invitation to the culprit to deploy nuclear weapons in their own territory.”
The U.S. promotes people like Abe to increase its provocative actions and brinkmanship against China, testing the waters and striving to embroil Japan in its actions. It is also acting to support efforts by Abe and others to eliminate Japan’s constitutional ban on the use of force.
But the U.S. has systematically tried to embroil Japan in its war games and other military measures and still has about 50,000 U.S. troops stationed there. Its aim is to use Japan and Korea against China and it is using this nuclear threat and claims about Taiwan to do so.
The peoples of Japan and those worldwide have long rejected these demands for more war in the region and are standing firm in their demand to make the region a zone for peace. The people of Okinawa continue to take brave stands against the U.S. military bases on their territory. Article 9 of Japan’s constitution, instituted as part of the peoples’ demands after World War II to outlaw the use of force and aggression in settling disputes, reflects that stand and defending it remains part of anti-war efforts in Japan. The security of the peoples lies not in militarization but in advancing the fight for the rights of all.
Article 9 of the Japanese constitution states: “(1) Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. (2) In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
Japan does have the Japan Self-Defence Forces which are supposed to remain at home and only serve to defend the country.
(TML Daily, posted March 2, 2022)
