Japan has enough plutonium to make 5,500 nuclear warheads, PLA Daily says

China’s military mouthpiece accused Japan of “dangerously expanding” its defence industry – in capacity, technology and international engagement – and said it had “crossed the red line”.

In a rare full-page report on Monday, PLA Daily claimed Japan possessed an “astonishing” stockpile of nuclear materials and that it had the technology to produce nuclear weapons.

It said 44.4 tonnes of plutonium had already been separated by the end of 2024 – enough to make about 5,500 nuclear warheads.

The report warned that once Japan had fully broken free from the constraints of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles – that it will not possess, produce or allow the introduction of nuclear weapons – it “could become a de facto nuclear-armed state in an extremely short period of time”.

It said Japan had worked “systematically” to cultivate its defence industry “under the cover of civilian technology” and that had laid the groundwork for “a strategic shift in defence policy and unleashing its military-industrial potential”.

Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remarks on Taiwan have infuriated Beijing. Photo: AFP

Tokyo allocated a record 17.5 billion yen (US$109.6 million) to its advanced technology transition research programme in 2025 – 18 times the amount in 2022, aiming to convert civilian tech for military use, according to the report.