WASHINGTON – Vice Foreign Minister Takeo Akiba did not rule out the possibility of a nuclear weapons storage site being built in Okinawa Prefecture in comments he allegedly made in 2009 when he was a minister at the Japanese Embassy in Washington, a U.S. researcher said Monday.
Gregory Kulacki, China project manager at the U.S.-based Union of Concerned Scientists, cited a document he obtained dated Feb. 27, 2009, that summarized Akiba’s remarks at a U.S. congressional commission that year.
In response to a question on how Japan might view the construction of a nuclear weapons storage site in Okinawa or Guam, Akiba “stated that he found such a proposal persuasive,” according to the document.
In Tokyo, however, Foreign Minister Taro Kono denied that Akiba had made such a remark.
“The government has firmly maintained the three nonnuclear principles” of not possessing, not producing and not allowing the introduction of nuclear weapons into Japan, Kono said.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.
With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.