China cites Biden’s message to Xi that Japan could build nuclear weapons ‘overnight’
Beijing releases 30-page report that includes a call for international community to ‘take concrete and strong measures’ against Japan’s nuclear ambitions
The report assessing Japan’s nuclear threat cited former US president Joe Biden’s direct message to Chinese President Xi Jinping that Japan had the capacity to have nuclear weapons “virtually overnight”.
Biden first disclosed the information in an interview with the American public broadcaster PBS in June 2016.
“What happens if Japan, who could tomorrow, could go nuclear tomorrow? They have the capacity to do it virtually overnight,” Biden said when recalling a conversation he had with Xi, but he did not say when it took place.
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Although some state media reported the interview, Chinese authorities have not responded to Biden’s remarks in public.