Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian’s Regular Press Conference on December 24, 2025

CCTV: It's reported that the remarks by a senior official from the Japanese Prime Minister's Office that "Japan should have nuclear weapons" have shocked many in and outside Japan. That has been met with criticism from Japanese former political dignitaries, members of both ruling and opposition parties, and civil groups as well as strong opposition from neighboring countries. A former Japanese political dignitary said that possessing nuclear weapons would "never be beneficial for Japan." A member of the Diet said that appointing such a person as a senior official that advises Prime Minister's security and defense policy is not appropriate. Many media outlets believed that those remarks are unacceptable. Yesterday, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi once again floated the idea of moving forward discussions on revising the three documents on security and defense to reinforce combat capability. What's China's comment?

Lin Jian: We noted the reports and the protests and petitions from civil groups across Japan.

It's by no means an isolated incident that a senior official from the Japanese Prime Minister's Office made such remarks. In recent years, Japan has removed the ban on exercising the right to collective self-defense, developed intermediate-range offensive weapons, increased military deployment, restructured the command systems, and expanded the area and scope of Self-Defense Forces activities. This amounts to a severe violation of provisions in instruments with legal effect under international law, including the Cairo Declaration and the Potsdam Proclamation, and of Japan's own Constitution. Only two months into office, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has accelerated military buildup, hit the defense-spending target of two percent of GDP two years early, further relaxed restrictions on arms exports, pushed forward the revision of the three documents on security and defense, including National Security Strategy, discussed the revision on the three non-nuclear principles, and implied the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines.

Those remarks of the Japanese official-supposedly someone close to Prime Minister Takaichi-came on the heels of her erroneous remarks on Taiwan. This is yet another attempt of the Japanese side to intentionally test the bottom line of the international community and reveal the long-standing wrongful proposition and ambition of Prime Minister Takaichi and Japanese right-wing forces to keep remilitarizing Japan. It sends an extremely dangerous signal. These moves challenge the post-war international order, threaten regional peace and stability, and do not serve the interest of the Japanese people. China and all other peace-loving countries will respond to those developments together and firmly prevent the resurgence of Japanese militarism.

AFP: A United States trade representative investigation found that China has employed unfair tactics to dominate the semiconductor industry and should be punished for this in the form of tariffs that will take effect in 2027. What is China's comment on this?

Lin Jian: China firmly opposes the U.S. slapping tariffs and going after Chinese companies. The U.S. practice destabilizes global industrial and supply chains, stifles other countries' semiconductor industry, and serves no one's interests. We urge the U.S. to correct its wrongdoings at once, act according to the important common understandings reached between the Chinese and U.S. presidents, uphold the principles of equality, respect and mutual benefit, resolve each other's concerns through dialogue, properly manage differences, and keep China-U.S. relations on a steady, sound and sustainable track. If the U.S. continues down the wrong path, China will take corresponding measures to firmly safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. 

China News Service: Japanese media reported that yesterday radioactive water leaked at the Fugen nuclear reactor in Tsuruga, Fukui Prefecture, which is undergoing decommissioning. Japan's Nuclear Regulation Authority said that the water contains a "high" amount of radioactive substances and several people might have been exposed to radiation. What's China's comment?

Lin Jian: The latest incident once again exposed serious deficiency in the operation, maintenance and safety supervision of Japan's nuclear facilities.

Recent months have seen a number of safety incidents involving nuclear facilities in Japan, which have raised serious concerns-the forgery of quality control of radiation detection devices at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant and overflow of water from the spent fuel pool at the nuclear waste treatment plant in Rokushima Village, Aomori Prefecture, to name just a few. Despite the many problems that exist with regard to the nuclear facilities, such as their dysfunction, chaotic management, ineffective supervision, the Japanese side still decided to restart the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant that once experienced water overflow from the spent fuel pool. This decision is met by opposition and protests from the Japanese people.

China urges the Japanese side to fully learn the lessons of the Fukushima nuclear accident, fulfill its responsibility on nuclear safety, provide a timely explanation of the incident and swiftly address it, properly handle the decommissioning of nuclear power plants and treatment of radioactive waste, and voluntarily receive international oversight, so as to alleviate concerns of the international community. This incident again highlighted the need for the international community to further step up all-round oversight and monitoring over the management of the discharge of Fukushima nuclear-contaminated water and the operation of the equipment and facilities in order to protect the marine environment.

China Daily: It was reported that China recently deposited with the UN secretary-general the instrument of ratification of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas beyond National Jurisdiction (BBNJ Agreement). Can you share the background and China's considerations?

Lin Jian: The BBNJ Agreement, an important international convention under the framework of the UN, was adopted by consensus of over 190 countries after 19 years of negotiations, and represents a milestone of international laws on the sea. The agreement aims at promoting sustainable development of the ocean through preserving marine ecology, encouraging green transition in countries' deep-sea and ocean activities, and helping to implement the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It bears great significance to advancing global marine governance and upholding international order at sea.

China acts in accordance with the Xi Jinping Thought on Ecological Civilization and works to implement the four major global initiatives. As a major country in terms of deep-sea and ocean activities, China attaches great importance to the protection of marine environment, and has been deeply involved in the negotiations for the BBNJ Agreement and made important contribution to its conclusion. China signed the agreement on the first day when it was opened for signature, one of the first countries to do so, and China deposited with the UN secretary-general the instrument of ratification before it enters into force, becoming one of the first party states to the agreement. This fully demonstrates China's sense of responsibility as a major country and support for multilateralism, and will help encourage extensive participation in the agreement and safeguard the common wellbeing of humanity. China stands ready to work with other parties to support the full, accurate and effective implementation of the agreement, protect and develop well the blue home of humanity, and contribute to the building of a community with a shared future for humanity.