The eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is underway at UN Headquarters in New York. Japan is a signatory to the NPT. However, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has sought to revise Japan's Three Non-Nuclear Principles. Senior officials of the Prime Minister's Office have even blatantly claimed that Japan should possess nuclear weapons. Japan is also pushing for the so-called "nuclear sharing" arrangement, plotting to redeploy nuclear weapons on its soil. These negative moves have raised grave concerns across the international community.

While the nuclear ambitions of some Japanese politicians are quietly swelling, ordinary people who have endured real nuclear disasters continue to recount the true "nuclear tragedies of Japan" for the rest of their lives.

Abe Katsuji, 71, a journalist with Japanese newspaper Shimbun Akahata, upholds the belief that "humanity cannot coexist with nuclear weapons and nuclear tests." Since the 1980s, he has been conducting investigations into the harm suffered by Japanese fishermen from the US' nuclear tests at Bikini Atoll in 1954. He has interviewed atomic bomb survivors in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, tracked the Fukushima nuclear disaster and dedicated his life to covering and documenting peace movements against nuclear proliferation and nuclear arms race. In a recent in-depth interview with the Global Times, Abe shared how nuclear catastrophes have shattered individual lives time and again, prompting profound reflection: What has caused the Japanese people to endure one nuclear disaster after another?

'Two nuclear disasters taught me the folly of war'

The first person Abe spoke of was Saito Seiichi. On August 6, 1945, while on duty as squad leader of a communications unit in Hiroshima, 20-year-old Saito spotted US warplanes circling in the sky. In an instant, a blinding flash burst forth. The water in the fish tank on his desk boiled instantly. Shards of glass sliced his face, and severe burns spread across his back and arms.

"The atomic blast scorched everything to ashes, reducing the whole city to rubble," Saito recalled to Abe of the horrific scene he witnessed firsthand. "I saw hell itself. We must pass on the terrifying truth to future generations."

Upholding this conviction, Saito returned to his hometown Iwate Prefecture after the war. In January 1957, he founded an association of atomic bomb suffers in the Iwate Prefecture, the first of its kind in northeastern Japan, devoting himself to anti-nuclear and peace causes.

In 2010, Saito traveled to New York with Abe and others to attend the NPT Review Conference.

Ironically, the tragedy did not end. The following year, on March 11, 2011, the Fukushima nuclear accident ruined local homes and left land and oceans contaminated by radiation for generations.

In 2015, Saito once again joined Abe in New York for the NPT Review Conference, denouncing the lifelong trauma that nuclear weapons and radiation inflict on ordinary people.

"Saito endured a lifetime of torment from nuclear disasters, yet he pressed on through old age and illness to travel to international forums and speak of the true agony of atomic bombings and nuclear accidents. He dedicated his remaining years to warning the world to remember history, reject the nuclear arms race, and strive for a nuclear-free world," Abe told the Global Times.

Regrettably, Saito passed away in 2025. "It is a pity he never lived to see a nuclear-free world," Abe said.

Another pivotal person Abe encountered was Yokoyama Kokichi, 96, whose life was also reshaped by two nuclear catastrophes. He survived the Nagasaki atomic bombing and suffered radiation exposure from the Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, enduring lifelong physical and mental torment from nuclear radiation.

On March 1, 1954, the US conducted the first nuclear test of Operation Castle, codenamed Bravo, at Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, with an explosive yield of 15 million tons of TNT equivalent.

"Two nuclear disasters have made me fully understand how foolish war is," Yokoyama told Abe.

In Abe's view, the atomic bombings of Japan during World War II stemmed from Japan's own wars of aggression. Having invaded China and launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor against the US, Japan reaped temporary gains from its military expansion. Eventually, the US resorted to atomic bombs to secure a complete victory over Japan.

Abe holds that rather than equating the suffering caused by the atomic bombs with general wartime victimhood, the root cause of all these disasters lies within Japan itself.

"The Japanese government has never conducted sincere introspection, which is the fundamental reason why Japan still has various frictions with Asian countries including China to this day," Abe said.
'We don't need nuclear weapons'

"The Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, which caused radiation sickness and deaths among Japanese fishermen, ignited a powerful grassroots anti-nuclear movement across Japan," Abe told the Global Times. "On August 6, 1955, the first World Conference against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs was held in Hiroshima. On September 19 the same year, the Japan Council against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs was officially established and its activities continue to this day."

As the 11th NPT Review Conference convenes in New York, Japan must respond to the concerns of the international community: Why does a country that claims to have suffered deeply from nuclear harm - one that possesses abundant sensitive nuclear materials and a complete nuclear fuel cycle technology - watch as its senior officials openly discuss revising the Three Non-Nuclear Principles?

"In my view, this is far from merely Japan's internal affairs; it is closely tied to the current international situation," Abe stressed. "The atomic bomb disasters in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were unspeakably tragic. Any future use of nuclear weapons could lead to the extinction of all humanity, with no one spared. Before making any major decisions, we must never forget the ordinary people who have lived under the nuclear shadow."

Abe was on a business trip in Kochi Prefecture when he gave the interview. A memorial rally marking the US hydrogen bomb tests at Bikini Atoll was held that day in Kochi City, an event Abe attends every year. A local theater staged a recital drama depicting nuclear disasters in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Fukushima and beyond. Lines portraying the agony of nuclear radiation and songs praying for peace deeply moved all attendees. "This work voices the heartfelt cry of us all: We don't need nuclear weapons," he said.

At the age of 71, Abe still works on the front lines of interviews and actively covers peace events, yet he harbors profound worries.

"More than eighty years have passed since the end of WW II. Elderly people who experienced the war and witnessed nuclear disasters are passing away, and the number of nuclear disaster sufferers keeps dwindling. Later generations can only learn about the tragedies of the past indirectly through photos, news reports and videos, so the younger generation may find it increasingly difficult to truly feel the brutality of war," he told the Global Times.

He also warned that the rise of right-wing forces may bring new disasters to Japan. "We will do our utmost to oppose the expansion of right-wing forces and never let such forces run rampant."

As eyewitnesses pass away one after another, how can historical memories be preserved? In response to this question, Abe told the Global Times that "It is our bounden duty and mission to pass down historical truths and the idea of peace to the younger generation. That is why I am willing to give interviews, hoping to unite more people to remember history and uphold peace."

When the Global Times met Abe in Tokyo in July 2025, Abe sent the Global Times reporter a book he compiled titled From Atomic Bomb Sufferers to Storytellers of Tomorrow. He wrote a sentence on the title page: "Learn history for Japan's genuine independence."

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin signed in Beijing on Wednesday a joint statement on further enhancing the comprehensive strategic coordination and deepening good-neighborliness and friendly cooperation between the two countries.

US President Donald Trump said Friday that he is willing to continue to maintain sincere and in-depth communication with Chinese President Xi Jinping, and looks forward to hosting him in Washington, D.C.

He made the remarks during a restricted meeting with Xi in Beijing.

Chinese and US anti-drug authorities have worked together to crack a cross-border drug trafficking and smuggling case, according to a post on Tuesday by Yuyuantantian, a Chinese social media account affiliated with Chinese state television. The account revealed details of the case, saying that the US side provided some of the key intelligence leads, while Chinese authorities carried out arrests and investigative operations.

The disclosure followed an announcement by China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) on Monday that anti-drug agencies of China and the US jointly crack a drug trafficking and smuggling case, arresting five suspects, the Xinhua News Agency reported.

The MPS said that the five suspects, two Chinese nationals and three US nationals, were arrested in coordinated operations launched simultaneously in both countries in early April by the MPS's narcotics control bureau and the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida also released information on the case on Monday. According to Yuyuantantian, this marked the first time in recent years that the two sides publicly released information on such a joint anti-drug operation simultaneously.

In its release, the US Attorney's Office detailed a case involving a Chinese national and a Las Vegas man charged in scheme to import a deadly synthetic opioid into the US, and cited Special Agent in Charge David L. King of the DEA Asia Pacific Division as saying, "We commend the Chinese Ministry of Public Security for their thorough and swift investigative work on this case, which was initially presented at the February 2026 Bilateral Drug Enforcement Intelligence Working Group, hosted by DEA Asia Pacific Division in Colorado."

As part of the investigation, China's MPS took law enforcement action in China against Guo, one of the suspects, according to the office, which added that "The Justice Department thanks the Ministry of Public Security for its assistance and coordinated efforts."

According to Yuyuantantian, although China-US anti-drug cooperation mechanisms had been affected in past years due to what it described as actions taken by the US side, cooperation at the practical law enforcement level had never been completely suspended. 

Citing professionals familiar with the issue, the account said exchanges in intelligence sharing, evidence transfers and joint investigative assistance had continued throughout the period.

The account added that US law enforcement agencies including the DEA and the FBI had consistently shown strong willingness to cooperate at the working level. When smuggling clues emerged, both sides exchanged information and coordinate investigations.

Professionals who had participated in China-US anti-drug cooperation consultations told Yuyuantantian that the DEA maintains an office in China and even subscribes to the China Anti-Drug News newspaper. 

According to the account, such details reflect the "high degree of willingness for cooperation and friendly attitude" maintained by both sides at the operational level.

Yuyuantantian also cited previous examples of cooperation in transnational cases. When US authorities discovered abnormal flows of precursor chemicals or identified drug trafficking chains linked to China, they notified Chinese authorities and provided information on suspects involved. Chinese authorities would then launch investigations, surveillance operations and arrests, while also sharing clues with the US side.

The account noted that in 2017 alone, the Office of China National Narcotics Control Commission provided the US side with more than 400 clues related to fentanyl procurement and over 500 intelligence reports involving US customers purchasing new psychoactive substances.

The report also traced another recent case in which the US repatriated a drug-related fugitive surnamed Han to China in April this year. According to the account, Han was the first drug-related fugitive repatriated to China by the US in recent years.

Compared with ordinary intelligence exchanges, transnational repatriation involves far more complicated procedures, including identity verification, evidence confirmation, coordination of judicial procedures and coordination between immigration and law enforcement authorities, Yuyuantantian said. It added that customs authorities, immigration agencies and even financial regulators may all become involved in such cases.

The account noted that today's transnational drug crimes have evolved into highly cross-border "gray industry chains," with many cases involving overlapping jurisdiction across multiple countries. For example, precursor chemicals may be produced in China while drugs are distributed in the US, with the entire chain spanning different legal systems and jurisdictions.

Under such circumstances, issues including where suspects are tried and which side conducts prosecutions all require coordination, according to Yuyuantantian, which added that the completion of such cooperation itself reflects "a considerable degree of mutual trust" between the two law enforcement systems.

The account also noted that in recent years, the US had attempted to shift responsibility for its domestic drug governance problems outward, but that approach had failed to fundamentally solve the issue. By contrast, it said, returning to pragmatic approaches such as law enforcement cooperation, intelligence sharing and joint investigations has produced tangible results.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and US President Donald Trump visited the Temple of Heaven in Beijing on Thursday.

Xi greeted Trump outside the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests. The leaders had a photo taken in front of the Hall and took a tour of the Hall.

The combination of the Tianzhou-10 cargo craft and a Long March-7 carrier rocket was vertically transferred to its launch site on Friday, and the cargo spacecraft will be launched at a proper time in the near future, China Central Television (CCTV) News reported on Friday.

The mission will deliver a brand-new extravehicular spacesuit, a new space treadmill and six scientific experiment payloads to the space station, marking the largest number of uplinked payload projects since the construction of China's space station began, the report said.

The vertical transfer operation kicked off at 8 am on Friday, and currently, the facilities and equipment at the Wenchang Spacecraft Launch Site in Wenchang, South China's Hainan Province, are in good condition, and comprehensive functionality checks and joint tests are scheduled to proceed as planned ahead of the launch, CCTV News reported, citing the China Manned Space Agency (CMSA).

Encased in the rocket's top fairing, the Tianzhou-10 cargo craft is set to carry nearly 6.3 tons of supplies to orbit. These vital materials will support the in-orbit work and daily life of the Shenzhou-23 and Shenzhou-24 taikonaut crews, covering more than 220 items for the taikonaut system, space station system, cargo spacecraft system and space application system, alongside 700 kilograms of propellant, the report said.

Something particularly noteworthy about this mission is the delivery of a third brand-new extravehicular spacesuit, CCTV News said. Following the two sets already sent to orbit by the Tianzhou-9 cargo craft, this latest delivery will fully complete the overall upgrade and replacement of extravehicular spacesuits aboard the space station.

Wang Ya'nan, editor-in-chief of Beijing-based Aerospace Knowledge magazine, told the Global Times on Friday that the arrival of the new extravehicular spacesuits is expected to enable taikonaut crews to carry out more extravehicular activities. 

Wang noted that these new suits appear to deliver improved overall performance, and this round of extravehicular spacesuit upgrades may suggest that extravehicular tasks at the space station are likely to grow more frequent and intensive in the days ahead.

Also on board the cargo craft are a new space treadmill and six scientific experiment payloads with a total weight of around 280 kilograms. They will support cutting-edge space science research in fluid physics, aerospace technologies and other frontier fields under the space station's microgravity environment, making this mission the most payload-intensive since the space station construction commenced, read the report.

According to Wang, the newly delivered space treadmill can help taikonauts enhance their physical training efficiency while in orbit, maintain physical well-being, and could better prepare them for longer-duration space missions.

Regarding the wide range of scientific experiment payloads carried by the Tianzhou-10 cargo craft, the expert said that this may point to a gradual expansion of research subjects, with each payload designed for targeted space experiments. "As the China space station steps into stable routine operation, the scale and scope of space scientific research could continue to broaden going forward," Wang noted.

CCTV News also said that most cargo items have already been loaded onto the spacecraft, while a small number of low-temperature preserved supplies - including fresh fruits and vegetables, refrigerated consumable kits, as well as biological and cell experiment samples - will be loaded shortly before launch. To ensure seamless pre-launch installation, researchers have conducted full-process rehearsals for the preparation, loading and integration of these experiment samples.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the Tianzhou-9 separated from the orbiting Tiangong space station combination on Wednesday and re-entered the atmosphere under controlled conditions on Thursday. The space station has thus cleared a docking port to make room for the Tianzhou-10, the CMSA noted. 

In addition, the Shenzhou-21 taikonaut crew has completed in-orbit manual rendezvous and docking training, and is well prepared to welcome the Tianzhou-10 cargo craft, per CCTV News.

The report is not true and this is a war that should not have happened in the first place, and its origins are clear to all. China firmly opposes attempts by some to fabricate rumors and link China to the conflict, the spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in the UK said in a statement issued on Friday morning Beijing time in response to a Financial Times report alleging that during the recent conflict, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps used a "spy satellite" built and launched by a Chinese company to monitor US military bases and key civilian infrastructure in the Middle East.

The Chinese side is deeply concerned about the attacks on the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and firmly opposes any actions that escalate tensions in the region, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Thursday, in response to a question seeking comment on Iranian attacks on Fujairah Oil Industry Zone in the UAE and ships in Strait of Hormuz.

"China consistently maintains that the sovereignty, security, and territorial integrity of Middle Eastern Gulf countries should be earnestly respected, and that civilians and non-military targets should be protected. The immediate priority is to achieve an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire, and prevent further escalation of the conflict," Lin said.

Tourists visit the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring Scenic Area in Dunhuang City, northwest China's Gansu Province, April 27, 2026. As the May Day holiday approaches, the tourism markets across the country are heating up. (Photo by Zhang Xiaoliang/Xinhua)

Some major Chinese cities and provinces released their first-quarter economic data on Monday, showing a strong start to the year. A Chinese expert said that this trend underscores steady and solid economic development, supported by policy measures and consumption upgrades, with the growth of the services sector being a highlight.

Most importantly, the economic growth sends an important signal of a solid start to 2026, the first year of China's 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-30), as the country works toward its annual GDP growth target of 4.5-5 percent this year, the expert said.

Beijing held a press conference on its economic performance on Monday. In the first quarter, the city's GDP reached 1.29 trillion yuan, up 5.9 percent year-on-year at constant prices, marking a solid start to the economy, according to the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

Notably, the capital's tertiary sector, or services industry, saw stronger-than-average growth at 6.4 percent year-on-year compared with 5.2 percent at the national level. Next-generation information technology and the platform economy continued to drive development, while rising demand for computing power boosted faster growth in integrated circuit design services, according to the statistics bureau.

Also on Monday, Central China's Henan Province announced its first-quarter economic performance, showing a good start to the year. The province's GDP reached 1.59 trillion yuan, up 5.2 percent year-on-year at constant prices, according to the Henan Province Bureau of Statistics.

The value added of the tertiary industry reached 926.846 billion yuan, up 5.1 percent year-on-year. 

Notably, in January and February, the operating revenue of services enterprises above designated size in the province rose 8.5 percent year-on-year, 1.1 percentage points higher than the national average. About 80 percent of industries recorded growth, with eight out of 10 major services industry categories above designated size posting growth, according to the provincial bureau of statistics.

Central China's Hubei Province announced on Monday that its GDP grew 5.4 percent in the first quarter, with the value added of the services sector up 5.1 percent year-on-year.

Some other major cities and provinces also announced their first-quarter economic data, including Southwest China's Sichuan Province, which reported 5.5 percent year-on-year growth, and Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, which recorded 4.5 percent growth.

Many regions achieved a strong and solid start to their economic performances in the first quarter, which reflected continued improvement of the industry growth structure, with the services sector accelerating to become key forces supporting the economic recovery, Hu Qimu, a deputy secretary-general of the Forum 50 for Digital-Real Economies Integration, told the Global Times on Monday.

Hu said that from consumption-related services to producer services, areas such as tourism, transportation, and information services have been recovering well, as the tertiary sector becomes an important engine for stabilizing economic growth.

Policies have also been strengthened to promote the development of the services sector. In January, the General Office of the State Council issued a notice on the Work Plan for Accelerating the Cultivation of New Growth Drivers for Service Consumption, emphasizing the strengthening of fiscal and financial support. It called for the coordinated use of existing funding channels to support the development of services consumption and foster new growth points in this sector, according to the notice.

Li Changan, a professor at the Academy of China Open Economy Studies at the University of International Business and Economics, told the Global Times on Monday that based on the current data, overall economic performance across regions shows positive momentum, with the recovery trend continuing to strengthen.

Regions such as Chongqing and Henan have delivered relatively strong performances, reflecting the accelerating release of development momentum in central and western China, Li said, noting that these areas are increasingly becoming an important new source of support for overall economic growth. 

Amid ongoing industrial upgrading, Li said that the services sector, which was highlighted in first-quarter economic data, has seen its contribution to economic growth further increase, paving the way for a strong start to the 15th Five-Year Plan.