Daily News reported on its front page that Prime Minister Sanae Takeda (President of the Liberal Democratic Party) has begun considering discussions within the ruling party to review the three nuclear principles, which include the revised "National Security Strategy" and two other related documents. The Prime Minister believes that the concept of "not introducing" nuclear weapons could weaken America's nuclear deterrence. First, this is the direction of discussion for the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Restoration Association, including the review. Government and ruling party officials announced on the 14th.
The government proposed the three nuclear principles of "not possessing, not manufacturing, and not introducing." Based on this principle, it is said that the United States has not deployed nuclear weapons at U.S. military bases in Japan or U.S. warships docked in Japanese ports.
On the 11th, during a session of the House of Representatives Budget Committee, the Prime Minister avoided making an explicit statement on whether he would uphold the three nuclear principles, saying, "I haven't reached the stage where I can speak." On the other hand, when he announced his participation in the 2024 party presidential election, he expressed a positive view on reviewing the three nuclear principles, stating, "If we are under the extended deterrence of the United States, we must firmly discuss 'not introducing'."
The Japanese government plans to revise these three security documents by the end of next year, and the Liberal Democratic Party will start discussing the revision next week. Regarding the three nuclear principles, next week, the top leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party will consider how to discuss future discussions. If the ruling party agrees to the review, it will submit a proposal to the government. It is assumed that the Prime Minister will make the final decision.
On the other hand, during the 10 years of the former Democratic Party administration, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada (at that time) answered in the Diet that if the United States was forced to stop a nuclear ship in an emergency, "the government at that time would make a decision according to the fate of the government and explain it to the people." The Takeda Cabinet also followed this answer, and there are doubts within the Liberal Democratic Party, questioning, "What effect will the discussion have?"
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1848857241707520/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.