By Zhang Gaosheng
Recently, the leaders of the US and Japan issued a joint statement purporting that the two countries were "resolved to achieve a world without nuclear weapons through realistic and pragmatic approaches" and hyping up the so-called China's nuclear threats. The statement employed cunning rhetoric to confuse the public, which reveals US and Japan's ulterior motive of undermining global and regional strategic security and stability under the guise of the so-called China's nuclear threats. In fact, it is the US and Japan's adverse developments in nuclear policies and nuclear issues that truly threaten the world and deserve high vigilance of the international community.
The US, as the country possessing the largest and most advanced nuclear arsenal in the world, should first adopt responsible nuclear policies. However, in recent years, the country has vigorously upgraded its nuclear triad, continuously strengthened the role of nuclear weapons in its national security policies, and developed new-type nuclear warheads, low-yield nuclear weapons and hypersonic weapons. The US also developed tactical nuclear weapons and sought the forward deployment of them, and has resumed the development of land-based intermediate-range missiles and intends to deploy them in Europe and the Asia-Pacific. To promote nuclear power development, the Biden administration even raised the nuclear-related budgets to USD 37.7 billion in the FY2024 defense budget request, a year-on-year increase of up to 9.6%.
The US has also actively upgraded the extended deterrence with its allies and continuously strengthened the nuclear coalition of NATO by acquiescing in Japan and the ROK's discussions on nuclear sharing with it and NATO to strengthen their nuclear deterrence. Moreover, the US has promoted the establishment of the so-called trilateral security partnership to facilitate cooperation on nuclear submarines and other cutting-edge military technologies with the UK and Australia. This cooperation represents the first-ever transfer of nuclear submarine power reactors and weapon-grade highly enriched uranium from nuclear states to non-nuclear states, opening the Pandora's Box of nuclear proliferation. The US has also constantly dodged self-restraint in arms control by repeatedly withdrawing from international organizations. The country has withdrawn from the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty, the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and other arms control treaties, and terminated data exchange with Russia under the framework of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty. On the contrary, it has reinforced the nuclear coalition of NATO and expanded advanced military technology cooperation with its allies.
Like the US, Japan's policy position in the nuclear arms control is extremely hypocritical. Japan has long portrayed itself as a victim of the nuclear explosion and an advocate for a nuclear-free world, but practically availed itself of the nuclear umbrella of the US. It opposed and obstructed the US' act of abandoning the policy of using nuclear weapons first, and cooperated with the latter in the forward deployment of strategic forces. Some Japanese politicians even advocated nuclear sharing with the US. The idea of acquiring nuclear armament is gaining ground amidst resurgence of militaristic mindset and growing prominence of right-wing forces in Japan.
For the past few years, Japan has significantly increased its military expenditure to develop offensive weapons, substantially revised the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology and expedited the national defense industry development. Besides, disregarding the concerns and opposition of the international community, the Japanese government arbitrarily approved the nuclear contaminated water discharge plan and pushed forward the construction of the sea discharge project, imposing unpredictable risks of nuclear contamination on people worldwide.
In contrast to the US and Japan, China adheres to the path of peaceful development, allocates defense spending rationally and proportionately, and has been keeping its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security, which is completely incomparable to the US in magnitude. Furthermore, China has always followed a defensive nuclear strategy, abided by "no first use" of nuclear weapons at any time and in any circumstances, and explicitly pledged not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones. China is the only country among the five nuclear-weapon states to pledge no-first-use of nuclear weapons. At the international level, China upholds multilateralism, takes the initiative to engage in arms control dialogues and exchanges, actively facilitates the settlement of the Korean and Iranian nuclear issues, and promotes the establishment of an international nuclear safety system characterized by fairness, cooperation, and mutual benefits. In the current turbulent and intertwined world, the US and Japan should reflect on themselves, abandon the outdated Cold War mentality and zero-sum game mindset, approach China with objectivity and rationality, and maintain global and regional peace, security and strategic stability in a responsible manner.
Editor's note: Originally published on china.com.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
