Before the shift in political power in September, Japan aggressively lobbied a U.S. congressional nuclear task force to maintain the credibility of the U.S. "nuclear umbrella" to deter possible attacks by China and North Korea, sources said Monday.
Tokyo's lobbying for a robust deterrence came just before President Barack Obama pledged that the U.S. would pursue the "peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons."
Meeting with members of the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States, senior Japanese diplomats expressed deep concerns about the future capability of the U.S. nuclear umbrella, the sources said.