Chinese envoy condemns Japan's remilitarization push at UN, warns of threat to peace

A Chinese envoy on Thursday condemned Japan's accelerating remilitarization at the United Nations, warning that it had become a major threat to regional peace and stability and urging Tokyo to fulfill its nuclear non-proliferation obligations.

Sun Xiaobo, director-general of the Chinese Foreign Ministry's Department of Arms Control, addressed the general debate of the First Committee of the 81st UN General Assembly as head of the Chinese delegation. The committee deals with disarmament and international security.

Sun said the postwar international order, the UN-centered international system and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter were facing serious challenges, according to CCTV News.

Noting that this year marks the 81st anniversary of the UN's founding and the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Tokyo Trials, Sun stressed the need to learn from history and resist attempts to turn back the clock.

Japan joined the UN on the condition that it acknowledged the crimes of militarism and accepted the UN Charter in its entirety, Sun said. Yet its current administration denies Japan's history of aggression, glorifies war crimes and pays homage to World War II war criminals while expanding its military capabilities and accelerating re-militarization, Sun said.

Sun also denounced calls by senior Japanese officials for unrestricted debate on acquiring nuclear weapons, saying they reflected attempts to abandon the country's Three Non-Nuclear Principles. He said such moves were a serious provocation against and violation of the international nuclear non-proliferation regime.

The principles commit Japan to neither possess or produce nuclear weapons, nor permitting their introduction into the country, according to Japan's Foreign Ministry.

Sun's remarks followed comments by Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on a BS Fuji program on September 28. Discussing the possession of nuclear weapons and nuclear-powered submarines, Koizumi called for debate "without taboos or predetermined conclusions," Kyodo News reported. He claimed that refusing to allow even a discussion was at odds with his sense of urgency over security threats.

Sun also criticized Japan's proposal to remove the "enemy state" clauses from the UN Charter, calling it the latest example of Tokyo challenging the postwar international order under the guise of becoming a "normal country."

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi called for the clauses to be removed during her address to the UN General Assembly in New York on September 22, Kyodo News reported.

Sun urged Japan to reflect deeply on its history of aggression, make a clean break with militarism, abandon its re-militarization plans and fulfill its obligations under international law on nuclear non-proliferation, according to CCTV News.