Japan’s government currently has no intention of revising the country’s non-nuclear principles but is considering a proposal to permit nuclear weapons to be brought into the country under an exception, TASS reported citing the Sankei newspaper and its government sources.
The initiative is viewed as a measure to strengthen the deterrence of potential adversaries based on the idea of the United States’ "nuclear umbrella," the paper noted.
A provision allowing nuclear weapons to be brought into the country as an exception may be included in new fundamental documents on security, which the Japanese government plans to adopt at the end of the year. This would allow ships carrying nuclear weapons to enter Japanese ports, the newspaper said.
According to Sankei, such a move would addressing numerous issues, including defining the circumstances in which nuclear weapons could be brought to Japan and developing a mechanism to coordinate visits by such vessels with local authorities.
The paper noted that some members of the country’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party were calling for a cautious approach to such decisions, so discussions on the issue were expected to continue. Another proposal circulating in the government is to include a provision in the fundamental security documents on discussing the possibility of providing the country’s Navy with nuclear-powered submarines.
Japan maintains three non-nuclear principles: not possessing, not producing and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons into its territory. The principles, which have no force of law, were formalized through a government decision and a regular parliamentary resolution. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has repeatedly said that her cabinet adheres to the three non-nuclear principles. However, she has been consistently moving away from the obligation to pursue the same policy in the future.
