China calls on Japan to take 'real actions' for building world without nuclear weapons

China has called on Japan to take "real actions" for building the world without nuclear weapons and not to create nuclear weapons. Addressing the press briefing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said that Japan despite calling for a world without nuclear weapons continues to be "sitting comfortably under the US's nuclear umbrella."

His statement comes after Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida while commemorating the 77th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima said that Tokyo will work towards making "a world without nuclear weapons" and it will "firmly" uphold the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. 

"We urge Japan, as a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the NPT, to earnestly fulfill its international obligations, strictly abide by its Three Non-Nuclear Principles, not to develop or introduce nuclear weapons and take real actions to contribute to a vision of a world without nuclear weapons," Wang Wenbin said at the press briefing. 

Speaking at a press briefing, Wang Wenbin stressed that Japan has been the only country in the world to have suffered nuclear attacks and it presents itself as a "model student" in international nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation. He claimed that some Japanese politicians have called for nuclear sharing with the United States and stressed that the deployment of nuclear weapons in Japan should not be considered a "taboo topic." Wenbin emphasized that Japan "connives" in such discussion and even removed the Three Non-Nuclear Principles in the report presented to the 10th Review Conference of the NPT. 

"Japan has been sitting comfortably under the US’s nuclear umbrella. It opposes and obstructs the US’s relinquishing its policy of first use of nuclear weapons," Wang Wenbin said at the press briefing. 

"Some Japanese politicians have even clamored for nuclear sharing with the US and claimed that the US’s deployment of nuclear weapons in Japan should not be a taboo topic," he added. 

Japan PM calls on world to not use nuclear weapons 

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended the memorial ceremony in Hiroshima marking the 77th anniversary of the city's atomic bombing. In his speech at the memorial ceremony, Kishida asserted that the "world continues to face threats from nuclear weapons." He called on the international community to not repeat the use of nuclear weapons. He said that Japan will continue to make efforts for building a world "without nuclear weapons." 

Kishida also expressed hope to share his commitment with other G7 leaders "before the peace monument" to unite them to work for peace and international order. Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who attended the memorial ceremony in Hiroshima called the nuclear weapons "nonsense." He asserted that nuclear weapons guarantee no safety and cause only "death and destruction."

 “Japan will walk its path toward a world without nuclear weapons, no matter how narrow, steep or difficult that may be," Japanese PM Fumio Kishida said. 

Inputs from AP

Image: AP