In response to eyebrow-raising positions recently espoused by Republican U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga reaffirmed Monday that Japan's three nonnuclear principles and the Japan-U.S. alliance remain the cornerstone of its diplomacy.
Trump, the front-runner in the turbulent U.S. election, is threatening to withdraw U.S. troops from Japan and said he is open to Japan developing its own atomic arsenal.
"Whoever becomes president of the United States, the Japan-U.S. alliance, based on the bilateral security agreement, will remain the core of Japan's diplomacy," Suga told reporters. "We will maintain the three nonnuclear principles that prohibit Japan from owning, developing and transporting a nuclear arsenal."