‘Japan should review nuke arms policy’

JAPAN: Japan’s long-standing policy ofnot allowing nuclear weapons into the country should be reviewed,according to a report that is set to be submitted to Prime Minister Naoto Kan, the Asahi newspaper said.

Japan, the only nation to have suffered nuclear attacks, has a self-imposed ban against the possession, production and the letting of nuclear arms into the country.

But a Government investigation this year showed that there was a tacit agreement between Tokyo and Washington that may have allowed US vessels carrying nuclear weapons to enter Japanese ports without prior discussion.

A panel report recommending the review will be submitted to Kan next month, and will be used as a starting point for compiling Japan’s new defence policy outline, due out by the end of the year, the Asahi said.

The panel report also calls for a flexible interpretation of Japan’s constitution regarding the government’s right to collective self-defence, or coming to the aid of allies under attack, the Asahi said.

Successive Japanese governments have interpreted the pacifist constitution as banning the exercise of that right, but the United States, Japan’s closest security ally, has made clear that it would welcome an end to the self-imposed ban.

Tokyo, Tuesday, Reuters