BEIJING, April 11. /TASS/. The US must reduce the role of nuclear weapons in its policy on national and collective security, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Mao Ning said.
"The US and Japan must take a look in the mirror, adjust their attitude, stop undermining the international system of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, to effectively reduce the role of nuclear weapons in the policy of national and collective security," Mao Ning noted.
She pointed out that the US owns a huge nuclear arsenal and invests huge amounts of money into upgrading their nuclear capabilities and "reinforcing the NATO nuclear alliance."
"Itself being a victim of a nuclear explosion, Japan not only fails to demand nuclear disarmament from the US, but instead relies on its nuclear umbrella," Mao Ning noted.
The joint statement, adopted after negotiations between US President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in the White House, says that the US reaffirms its intent to ensure Japan’s security, including via nuclear weapons. Meanwhile, the statement underscores that, from Washington’s standpoint, Article 5 also covers the Senkaku Islands (Diaoyudao), which have been under Japanese control since 1972, but are the subject of a territorial dispute between Tokyo and Beijing.
The sides also stated their desire to decisively counter China’s "attempts to unilaterally change the status quo by force or coercion in the East China Sea," including with regard to the Senkaku islands.