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JAPAN

The Yomiuri Shimbun (www.yomiuri.co.jp) calls for a review of Japan's non-nuclear principles.

Although the existence of several Japan-US "secret pacts" has been confirmed by an expert panel launched after the change of administration last year, this matter has not yet been put to bed. Ending this debate once and for all will require a review of Japan's three non-nuclear principles of not possessing, not producing and not introducing nuclear weapons into this country...

We are bothered by the fact that the government continued to deny the existence of the hush-hush pacts for about 20 years after the Cold War ended and the United States announced in 1991 that it would withdraw tactical nuclear weapons from its vessels. That is a negative legacy of the LDP's long-term monopoly on power.

That being said, we think the government should put priority not simply on disclosing the past, but on strengthening the Japan-US alliance for the future by clearing up all the issues raised by the secret pacts.

The administration of Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama has announced it will maintain the three non-nuclear principles. The prime minister believes that since US vessels no longer carry nuclear weapons, no problem will arise. But there is always the possibility that the United Sates could change its policy in the future.

If the Hatoyama administration does not delve further into the secret pacts and effectively covers up discrepancies over the issue between Japan and the United Sates, that would be just as bad as the days when previous governments left the secret pacts untouched...

The government's top priority must be ensuring Japan's security. In this regard, the government should seriously discuss the concept of "2-1/2 non-nuclear principles." This "half" would refer to the third principle of not introducing nuclear weapons, but would allow port calls by US vessels carrying nuclear weapons and flights of US aircraft with nuclear weapons over Japan's territory, while upholding the prohibition on deploying nuclear weapons in Japan.

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HONG KONG

The South China Morning Post (www.scmp.com) says China cannot bear the price of progress indefinitely.

Rapid economic and industrial development points to a nation's progress. But it can come at a terrible price for many of the people it is meant to benefit. A reminder is a fresh spate of reports from the mainland about industrial poisoning. They are too numerous to detail here. It is enough to say that, in one instance, at least 250 children are reported to be suffering from lead poisoning in villages near a lead-smelting plant, and that in another villagers are said to be still dying of cadmium poisoning blamed on heavy-metal pollution from a chemical plant that first came to international attention last year. Both occurred in Hunan, a province notorious for metal poisoning.

Such scandals are not unique to the mainland. The safeguards that protect the public in more mature economies originated from the lessons of similar experiences during their own periods of industrial development. But reports of human suffering, particularly that of children, still spark a sense of outrage. The mainland's pursuit of economic growth is part of the problem. Local officials are often complicit in the most egregious examples of dangerous metal pollution. Their performance is assessed on their ability to meet economic growth targets. As a result they support the establishment of highly polluting factories in rural areas, fail to enforce production halts and clean-ups ordered by environmental watchdogs and forcibly prevent residents complaining to higher authorities.

History shows that the wheel will turn. China has made astonishing progress but, sooner or later, the human cost will be weighed against its achievements and found incompatible with the respect the nation craves.

Hopefully, the situation will improve. Premier Wen Jiabao pledged during the annual session of the National People's Congress this month to put a high priority on tackling metal leaks this year. That is a start. But Beijing must resolve the conflict at local government level between personal and public interest. Regulators must be able to enforce the law, and officials must give a fair hearing to public complaints. The human cost of China's modernisation cannot be passed on to another generation of children.

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