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No Japan nukes: Rice
 | She means, no Japan nukes this week. |
WASHINGTON (Kyodo) U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Tuesday dismissed suggestions that Japan might develop nuclear weapons in the wake of North Korea's atomic test, saying she trusts Tokyo as a security partner. "There's no evidence that this is a position that has any particular purchase in the Japanese system, or certainly among the Japanese population," Rice said in an interview on Fox News.
| I don't think there's anybody that really thinks changing the nuclear balance in Northeast Asia by having Japan go nuclear would improve the security situation... |
Rice made the comments when asked about suggestions by U.S. experts and lawmakers that Monday's nuclear test by North Korea could lead to a nuclear arms race in Asia, with Japan and South Korea going nuclear in response. Some have even advocated holding out the threat of a nuclear Japan as a way to pressure China into pushing North Korea to abandon its nuclear program.
"I don't think there's anybody that really thinks changing the nuclear balance in Northeast Asia by having Japan go nuclear would improve the security situation," Rice said. "We trust the Japanese. They're our security partner."
But Rice acknowledged that North Korea's emergence as a nuclear power "could set off all kinds of effects in the region," which is one reason why China has condemned the test and accepted possible U.N. sanctions against the North.
Posted by: Steve White 2006-10-12 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=168398 |
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