Japanese Liberal Party President Ichiro Ozawa claimed that Japan
could make a large number of nuclear weapons "overnight" to curb
China's "excessive expansion".
Japanese media said that Ichiro Ozawa's remarks would evoke a
strong response from China and other Asian countries against any
moves of Japanese militarism.
According to reports, Ichiro Ozawa Saturday said: "it is easy to
make nuclear warheads for Japan, our nuclear power plants have
enough plutonium which is enough to make 3000 to 4000 nuclear
warheads, Japan can produce thousands of nuclear warheads
overnight".
Nuclear weapons are the most sensitive issue in Japan, Japanese
people are strongly against it. Since the nuclear accident in
Ibaraki Prefecture in 1999, the most serious nuclear leakage
accident, Japanese citizens have lost confidence about nuclear
industry, they asked governments to reduce or stop nuclear power
plant construction.
Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said lately with visiting
Chinese top legislator Li Peng that Chinese development is not only
conducive to Japan, but also other countries. He does not agree
with the view that "China's rapid development would pose threat to
Japan".
( April 8, 2002)