Tokyo: A Japanese governor has said that his country should develop nuclear weapons to safeguard itself from countries like China and North Korea.
Seventy-eight-year-old Shintaro Ishihara, a former actor and author who has been governor of Tokyo since 1999, has made his latest demand following a diplomatic row over the arrest of a Chinese fishing vessel captain operating in Japanese waters.
"If Japan had nuclear (weapons), there would not have been any (Chinese encroachment) on the Senkakus. And North Korea would not have abducted our citizens," The Telegraph quoted him, as saying.
Ishihara is chairman of a group of governors who have been demanding progress on the issue of Japanese nationals abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 80s.
The governor had criticised the outgoing administration of US president George W Bush in 2009, saying that it did not take essential steps to help rescue those Japanese captives.
Washington has "not displayed great interest in the matter. North Korea is a country with nuclear weapons, but when the United States had issues with Libya, they bombed Tripoli. Some children died and that was a tragedy – but Libya changed. A more serious approach is needed with regard to North Korea," he added.
ANI
