October 31, 2025

Japanese Communist Party Central Committee Chair Shii Kazuo issued a statement on October 30, titled “Strong protest against U.S. President Trump’s declaration to resume nuclear testing and demand for its cancellation.” The full text is as follows:

On October 30, U.S. President Donald Trump posted on his social media platform, “Truth Social,” that he had instructed the “Department of War” (the Department of Defense) to resume U.S. nuclear weapons testing.

Today, the world faces two opposing realities: on one hand, the growing risk of the actual use of nuclear weapons; on the other, the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and international efforts to expand its reach. Under these circumstances, if the United States resumes nuclear testing for the first time in 33 years, it would pose a grave threat to world peace and represent a serious setback to the Hibakusha-led global effort to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons. The declaration to resume nuclear testing constitutes a clear violation of Article 6 of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which obliges nuclear-weapon states to pursue nuclear disarmament.

The Japanese Communist Party categorically condemns and rejects such a reckless act. We strongly protest and firmly demand the cancellation of the plan to resume nuclear testing.

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae’s government has stated that it would “refrain from commenting” on President Trump’s declaration. This stance is disgracefully servile for a government representing the world’s only country to have suffered from wartime atomic bombings. The Japanese government must strongly urge President Trump to withdraw his threat to resume nuclear testing.