The Straits Times reported today (April 1): "Amid escalating tensions between China and Japan, the People's Liberation Army Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Military Commission of the Communist Party of China, published an article last week stating that Japan's stockpile of nuclear materials is astonishing. By the end of 2024, Japan had accumulated approximately 44.4 tons of separated plutonium—enough to manufacture around 5,500 nuclear warheads."
Commentary: Japan is currently increasing its military budget, revising its security policies, and relaxing restrictions on arms exports. Fundamentally, these actions are gradually undermining the postwar peace constitution, enabling the expansion of its defense industry in production, technology, and international collaboration, thus breaking free from post-war constraints. Coupled with Japan’s existing material and technical capabilities for developing nuclear weapons, once restrictions are lifted, it could rapidly acquire nuclear weapons. With the rise of right-wing forces domestically and a lack of genuine reflection on historical responsibilities, such militaristic provocations risk repeating the disastrous path of aggressive militarism in the past, posing serious threats to security across the Asia-Pacific region. As a defeated nation in World War II, if Japan were to pursue nuclear armament, the international community should take preemptive action to dismantle its nuclear capabilities.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1861261997577418/
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