The People's Republic of China (PRC) has expressed deep concern about Japan's hidden nuclear potential and announced that it will not allow Tokyo to cross the line of its nuclear-free status. Official diplomatic positions and analyses by the military leadership in Beijing indicate that the stockpiles of reprocessed nuclear fuel accumulated by the Japanese side constitute a “dormant strategic arsenal“ that can be activated in an extremely short period of time.
Huge stocks of plutonium behind the civilian facade
Official data presented by the Chinese ambassador to Moscow, Zhang Hanhui, in a material for the Russian news agency TASS (tass.ru), indicate that by the end of 2024, Japan has about 44.4 tons of separated plutonium. Additionally, another 191 tons of unseparated plutonium in spent nuclear fuel are stored in Japanese storage facilities.
According to expert assessments by the military publication of the Chinese People's Liberation Army “PLA Daily“, quoted by the Hong Kong daily South China Morning Post (scmp.com), this amount is fully sufficient for the technological production of approximately 5,500 nuclear warheads.
Chinese diplomats emphasize that Japan remains the only country without its own nuclear arsenal under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) that simultaneously possesses the full technological cycle for the processing of spent nuclear fuel and the extraction of weapons-grade plutonium.
Crossing the “red line“ and military remilitarization
Beijing accuses Tokyo of systematically expanding its defense industry under the guise of civilian technology. The official spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, stated that attempts by certain political circles in Tokyo to revise the so-called “Three Nuclear-Free Principles“ (not to possess, produce or allow nuclear weapons on Japanese territory) are extremely dangerous for global security.
As a specific example of “dangerous expansion”, the Chinese side points to the drastic increase in the Japanese budget for research in the field of dual-use technologies, which aims at the rapid conversion of civilian innovations for military needs. According to the Chinese analysis, with the political will, Japan is capable of becoming a de facto nuclear power within a matter of months.
Tokyo's response and international repercussions
In response to the accusations, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs categorically rejected Beijing's claims. Japanese diplomats stressed that the country remains fully committed to the peaceful use of atomic energy in accordance with the requirements of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Tokyo insists that the three nuclear-free principles remain in place, even as the country reviews its defense strategy and increases security spending to 2 percent of GDP due to the complicated geopolitical situation in the region, including China's growing military power and North Korea's nuclear tests.
China has already taken a number of economic and diplomatic measures, including tightening exports of rare earth metals and imposing sanctions on leading Japanese industrial conglomerates involved in the defense sector (such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries). Beijing has officially called on the international community and the IAEA to strengthen control and conduct special inspections of Japanese nuclear facilities to ensure the balance of power in Asia.