Japan's push toward "remilitarization" by abandoning pacifist principles and nuclear pledges is undermining regional and global security, a Russian foreign ministry official said Thursday.
Japan's Defense Ministry on Tuesday released "Defense of Japan 2026," a white paper that deliberately distorts the regional security landscape and plays up so-called "external threats".
Responding to a question at a regular press briefing about the white paper, Alexey Fadeev, deputy director of the Information and Press Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, said Japan has continued to move away from the pacifist principles enshrined in its constitution.
He added that Tokyo is attempting to abandon commitments such as its Three Non‑Nuclear Principles, under which Japan pledges not to possess, produce or allow the introduction of nuclear weapons.
"In general, as has already been mentioned today, we are witnessing Japan's intensifying course toward remilitarization and its use of fabricated political pretexts, such as supposed threats from Russia and China, to justify these actions. We would like to emphasize once again that what's threatening the world is not the cooperation between Russia and China, but rather the steps taken by the Japanese leadership aimed at abandoning the pacifist provisions of Japan's own constitution, revising its commitments, particularly the 'Three Non-Nuclear Principles,' and forgetting the outcomes and lessons of the World War II. These are the actual factors negatively impacting the state of global and regional security," said Fadeev.
"We hope that the [81st] anniversary of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will remind Japanese government of the absolute necessity to exclusively pursue a peaceful path of development," added Fadeev.
Japan's accelerated 'remilitarization' undermines regional, global security: Russian official
