Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on China's Taiwan region and her push to revise non-nuclear principles could result in "extremely grave" consequences for Japan and the world, a scholar with Schiller Institute, a think tank headquartered in Washington D.C., said on Friday.
Speaking in an online interview with China Central Television (CCTV), Richard A. Black, a senior research fellow with the Schiller Institute, commented on Takaichi's remarks related to Taiwan and her intention to revise Japan's long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles.
"The Potsdam Declaration was not about the day then, but the future. It may be the case that many young people, even under 30 years old in Japan and elsewhere, don't appreciate what happened in World War II. Before that, in 1895, of course, the Japanese seizure of Taiwan, hundreds of thousands of people were killed. [In] 1931, the invasion of 'Manchuria,' [and in] 1937, the Nanjing Massacre. This was a war of extermination and enslavement of the Chinese people and others in Southeast Asia. So, when we see, when the world sees, Japan moving to even perhaps, host nuclear weapons and to back up secessionist forces in Taiwan and then intervene militarily, this is extremely dangerous for Japan and for the world," Black said.
He also criticized the changes made in history books of Japan and Taiwan, which are not telling the truth of wartime history.
"From what I'm told, with the rewriting of the history books in Japan and in Taiwan, the true story is not told, and Prime Minister Takaichi has a long history of visiting the Yasukuni Shrine, claiming that the world history of World War II is not true and that the crimes of Japan are exaggerated. So, no one is really surprised at what Prime Minister Takaichi is doing, but it is extremely, gravely dangerous," said Black.
According to media reports, Japan's Liberal Democratic Party has begun discussions on revising its three major security documents, including the Three Non-Nuclear Principles of not possessing, not producing and not allowing the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.
The Three Non-Nuclear Principles were first declared in the Diet, Japan's parliament, by then Japanese Prime Minister Eisaku Sato in 1967 and viewed as a national credo. The National Security Strategy, one of the three security documents approved by the Cabinet in 2022, states, "The basic policy of adhering to the Three Non-Nuclear Principles will remain unchanged in the future."
Black said that Takaichi's potential moves to alter Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles could potentially lead to another world war.
"The world community appreciates that Japan's constitution is a pacifist constitution. And the agreements around the three principles of non-nuclear status are extremely important and expected of the globe. The discussion in Japan, and the government discussing, perhaps, [Japan] will host nuclear weapons, this could lead to World War III, it's extremely grave. And to be blunt, this is a rise again of Japanese fascism. So, China is right to be angry, right to be upset, and right to take strong actions to prevent it from getting any further," said Black.
Schiller Institute scholar warns of 'grave' consequences from Japanese PM's remarks on Taiwan
