Japan has enough plutonium to make 5,500 nuclear warheads, PLA Daily says

China’s military mouthpiece claimed Japan had “crossed the red line”.

Illustration: Shutterstock China’s military mouthpiece accused Japan of “dangerously expanding” its defence industry – in capacity, technology and international engagement – and said it had “crossed the red line”.

In a rare full-page report on Monday, PLA Daily claimed Japan possessed an “astonishing” stockpile of nuclear materials and that it had the technology to produce nuclear weapons.

It said 44.4 tonnes of plutonium had already been separated by the end of 2024 – enough to make about 5,500 nuclear warheads.

The report warned that once Japan had fully broken free from the constraints of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles – that it will not possess, produce or allow the introduction of nuclear weapons – it “could become a de facto nuclear-armed state in an extremely short period of time”.

It said Japan had worked “systematically” to cultivate its defence industry “under the cover of civilian technology” and that had laid the groundwork for “a strategic shift in defence policy and unleashing its military-industrial potential”.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan have infuriated Beijing.

Photo: AFP Tokyo allocated a record 17.5 billion yen (US$109.6 million) to its advanced technology transition research programme in 2025 – 18 times the amount in 2022, aiming to convert civilian tech for military use, according to the report.

It said Japan’s defence ministry had set up the DARPA-style Defence Innovation Science and Technology Institute in 2024 and was encouraging more civilian firms to join military R&D.

Relations between China and Japan have rapidly deteriorated since Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi in November said Tokyo could get involved militarily if Beijing were to attack Taiwan.

The comment infuriated Beijing, which has cut diplomatic and people-to-people exchanges.

Japan has meanwhile installed advanced weapons that can reach China.

PLA Daily on Monday said Japan’s “remilitarisation” had gone far beyond developing “defence-oriented” capabilities and that its pacifist constitution had been hollowed out, posing a serious threat to regional security. “It has now entered a new phase characterised by the large-scale development of long-range offensive capabilities, marking Japan’s total departure from its post-war pacifist trajectory,” it said.

The report came after Beijing banned exports of commercial and military “dual-use” goods to Japan in January

原文链接: 南华早报