Japan Debates acquiring nuclear weapons
Pastor Dale Morgan
Sunday November 5, 5:54 PM Reuters
*Japan Debates acquiring nuclear weapons *
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese ruling party lawmakers sparred on Sunday over
whether the country should hold a debate on acquiring nuclear weapons in
a row triggered by North Korea's test of a nuclear device last month.
The head of policy at the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) said
Japan should at least discuss its self-imposed ban on nuclear weapons,
an opinion which is controversial in the only country to have
experienced nuclear attacks.
"We should hold a debate, including on what should be done if a nuclear
missile comes flying towards us," Shoichi Nakagawa told a discussion
programme broadcast by Fuji TV.
Japan watched nervously as North Korea fired off a series of ballistic
missiles in July and tested a nuclear device last month.
As the only country to have suffered nuclear attacks, on the cities of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, Japan is highly sensitive about nuclear
issues and even suggestions the country hold a debate about having
nuclear weapons has created a controversy.
Nakagawa said he was not suggesting Japan acquire nuclear weapons. "I
have never said that we should debate this on the premise that we should
have nuclear weapons," he said.
But his comments drew criticism from Toshihiro Nikai, another senior
member of the ruling party who opposed any debate over nuclear weapons.
"Of course one has the right to freedom of expression as a member of
parliament. But freedom of expression doesn't mean you should just say
anything you like," Nikai told reporters.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said last month the country would not lift its
decades-old ban on nuclear weapons and denied the topic was up for
discussion after his foreign and defence ministers clashed over the issue.
Foreign Minister Taro Aso called for a discussion on nuclear weapons
while Defence Minister Fumio Kyuma said raising the issue at a time of
high regional tension would be unwise.
Nikai said comments by Aso and Nakagawa could prove embarrassing for Abe.
"If they repeatedly issue statements that could be misleading, it may
result in calls for the one who appointed them to take responsibility,"
Nikai told national broadcaster
NHK.
Japan, with high technological standards and a stockpile of plutonium
from its nuclear power industry, is widely thought capable of producing
nuclear weapons relatively quickly, but many analysts say it is highly
unlikely to do so, given internal opposition and the risk of raising
regional tensions.