One of Japan’s most influential politicians has called for debate about what was until recently taboo: that the only country to have suffered the ravages of atomic war should host nuclear weapons.
Shinzo Abe, 67, the former prime minister, said that Japan should consider “nuclear sharing” of the kind by which Nato countries such as Germany, Italy and Turkey keep American nuclear weapons on their territory. He also said that the US should abandon its policy of “strategic ambiguity” and commit to defending Taiwan against invasion should China ever follow up on its belligerent rhetoric.
Abe becomes the most senior Japanese leader to call for a debate on nuclear weapons. With the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki never to be forgotten, anti-nuclear sentiment is strong
