Tokyo (AsiaNews/Agencies) – Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso said today there was nothing wrong with discussing whether Japan should possess nuclear weapons or not, but he stressed that Tokyo "has absolutely no intentions now of preparing to possess nuclear weapons".

Aso's words echoed contentious views expressed on Sunday by ruling party policy chief Shoichiro Nakagawa that Japan needs to discuss whether it should arm itself with nuclear weapons in response to North Korea's nuclear test.

For Aso, the reality is that Japan— the only country to have suffered an atomic bombing—"is only country that has not discussed possessing nuclear weapons, [whilst] all other countries have" done so. Still, he later told a news conference following a meeting with visiting US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that Japan had no plans to go nuclear and saw no need to do so.

"The Japanese government has absolutely no intentions now of preparing to possess nuclear weapons. There is no need to have nuclear weapons as the Japan-U.S. security framework will be activated for the defence of Japan, and Secretary Rice has just reconfirmed that," he said.

At the same joint press conference, Secretary Rice said that the "United States has the will and the capability to meet the full range [. . .] of its deterrent and security commitments to Japan. The US will defend its Asian allies from North Korea's nuclear threats".