{"id":9651,"date":"2026-02-01T06:55:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T21:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/?p=9651"},"modified":"2026-02-07T12:59:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-07T03:59:17","slug":"the-worlds-ongoing-conflicts-underline-nuclear-and-non-nuclear-states","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/inpsjapan.com\/en\/institutional-highlights\/the-worlds-ongoing-conflicts-underline-nuclear-and-non-nuclear-states\/","title":{"rendered":"The World\u2019s Ongoing Conflicts Underline Nuclear and Non-Nuclear States"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Thalif Deen<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 80th anniversary, which was commemorated in August 2025, Izumi Nakamitsu, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, said: \u201cWe remember those who perished. We stand with the families who carry their memory,\u201d as she delivered the UN Secretary-General's message.
 
She paid tribute to the hibakusha \u2013 the term for those who survived Hiroshima and the atomic bombing of Nagasaki \u2013 \u201cwhose voices have become a moral force for peace. While their numbers grow smaller each year, their testimony \u2014 and their eternal message of peace \u2014 will never leave us,\u201d she said.<\/pre>\n\n\n
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An illustrative map highlighting the intricate political history between the People\u2019s Republic of China and Republic of China (Taiwan)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
UNITED NATIONS (IPS)\u00a0<\/strong>– The two current ongoing conflicts, which have claimed the lives of hundreds and thousands of people, are between nuclear and non-nuclear states: Russia vs Ukraine and Israel vs Palestine, while some of the potential nuclear vs non-nuclear conflicts include China vs Taiwan, North Korea vs South Korea and the United States vs Iran (Venezuela, Mexico, Colombia, Cuba and Denmark).\uff5cJAPANESE<\/a>\uff5cCHINESE<\/a>\uff5cGERMAN<\/a>\uff5c<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The growing list now includes another potential conflict: nuclear China vs non-nuclear Japan is the world\u2019s only country devastated by US atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 which killed over 150,000 to 246,000, mostly civilians.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A statement last month by Japan\u2019s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi warned that her country could intervene militarily if China were to attack Taiwan\u2014a statement that has the potential for a new conflict in Asia.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Sanae Takaichi, Prime Minister of Japan. Source: MOFA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
According to the New York Times, Beijing has \u201cresponded furiously,\u201d asserting that self-governing Taiwan is an integral part of Chinese territory. The government has also urged millions of tourists to avoid Japan, has restricted seafood imports and increased military patrols.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, amidst rising military tension, the Japanese government has called for a snap general election on February 8, to seek a fresh public mandate for the new administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an article titled \u201cAn Anxious Nation Restarts One of its Biggest Nuclear Plants,\u201d the Times said on January 22 that \u201cTokyo Electric Power (TEPCO)\u2014the same utility that operated the Fukushima plant\u2014has restarted the first reactor, Unit 6, at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa complex, one of the world\u2019s largest nuclear facilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Before 2011, nuclear power provided about 30 percent of Japan\u2019s electricity, the Times pointed out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Stockholm Peace Research Institute, Japan\u2019s military budget in 2024 had grown to the 10th largest in the world. China\u2019s military budget has also been growing, in 2024 being second only to that of the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Jacqueline Cabasso, Executive Director, Western States Legal Foundation. Photo Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri, Multimedia Director, INPS Japan.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Jackie Cabasso, Executive Director of the Western States Legal Foundation, Oakland, California, and North American Coordinator for \u201cMayors for Peace,\u201d told IPS that Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi\u2019s recent statement that an armed attack on Taiwan by China could constitute an \u201cexistential threat\u201d to Japan is very worrying indeed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1967, she said, Japan\u2019s then\u2013Prime Minister Eisaku Sato set out the Three Non-Nuclear Principles\u2014of not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons\u2014which were formally adopted by the House of Representatives <\/strong>in 1971.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHowever, Japan\u2019s commitment to these Principles has been called into question over the years, and it is widely believed that Japan has the capability to rapidly produce nuclear weapons, should the decision be made to do so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beijing is ratcheting up the rhetorical heat. Whether true or not, a recent report by the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association and the Nuclear Strategic Planning Research Institute, a think tank affiliated with the China National Nuclear Corporation, alleges that Japan is engaged in a secret nuclear weapons program and poses a serious threat to world peace. Meanwhile, China is rapidly modernizing and increasing the size of its own nuclear arsenal, said Cabasso.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Mayors for Peace<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
\u201cJapan, as the only country in the world to have experienced the use of nuclear weapons in war, has the unique moral standing to be a champion for dialogue and diplomacy, peace, and nuclear disarmament.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Japan and China\u2019s leadership\u2014and for that matter, all world leaders\u2014should listen to the Mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who on January 20 issued a Joint Appeal on behalf of the 8,560 members of Mayors for Peace in 166 countries and territories, declaring, \u201cWe urge all policymakers to make every possible diplomatic effort to pursue the peaceful resolution of conflicts through dialogue and to take concrete steps toward the realization of a peaceful world free from nuclear weapons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n
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M.V.-Ramana<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Dr. M.V. Ramana, Professor and Simons Chair in Disarmament, Global and Human Security and Director pro tem, School of Public Policy and Global Affairs at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, told IPS even without nuclear weapons being utilized, the use of military force in Taiwan would be disastrous for global security, and especially for the people of Taiwan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAny resolution of the dispute over Taiwan should follow two fundamental principles: it should be settled through dialogue and discussion, and it should prioritize the wishes of the inhabitants of Taiwan. Finally, all parties should avoid provocative remarks,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The new developing story also figured at a recent UN press briefing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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A view of the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York as seen from the north of the UN site. Photo credit: UN<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n
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U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric\/ UN Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
Question:<\/strong> We know that there is a long-standing policy of Japan, called the three non-nuclear principles, which basically says that Japan shall neither possess nor manufacture nuclear weapons nor shall it permit their introduction into Japanese territory. But currently, the Japanese Government is under a discussion of revision of some of those security documents, including this policy, which draws quite anger from people from Hiroshima and Nagasaki and some of the Nobel Peace Prize winners. What\u2019s the position of the UN?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n
UN Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric: <\/strong>Look, I think the Secretary-General\u2019s position on denuclearization has been clear and he has stated it a number of times. Obviously, Member States will set whatever policy they wish to set. What is important for us is that the current tensions between the People\u2019s Republic of China and Japan be dealt through dialogue so as to lower the tensions that we\u2019re currently seeing\u2026 I think the Secretary-General\u2019s position on denuclearization and non-proliferation is well known and has been unchanged.<\/p>\n\n\n
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Tetsuo Saito\/ Komeito<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n
At a party leaders\u2019 debate last November in Japan, Tetsuo Saito, representative of the New Komei Party, which was founded in 1964 by the late Dr. Daisaku Ikeda, leader of Japan\u2019s Soka Gakkai<\/a> Buddhist movement, questioned Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in the Diet about the government\u2019s stance on the Three Non-Nuclear Principles and Japan\u2019s security policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He criticized remarks by a senior government official suggesting Japan should possess nuclear weapons, calling them contrary to Japan\u2019s post-war policy and damaging to diplomatic and security efforts<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He emphasized that the principles\u2014not to possess, not to produce, and not to permit nuclear weapons on Japanese soil\u2014and Japan\u2019s obligations under<\/a> the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are fundamental and must remain unassailable.<\/p>\n\n\n
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The Three Non-Nuclear Principles of not possessing, not producing, and not permitting the introduction of nuclear weapons.
Source: Komei Shimbun<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n