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Nury Vittachi from HK: TLDR SUMMARY: The world knows the importance of the nuclear “no first use” pledge but forgets that only two countries signed it, neither of which are in the west 來自香港的 Nury Vittachi：TLDR 摘要：世界知道「不先使用核武」承諾的重要性，但卻忘記了只有兩個國家簽署了該承諾，而且這兩個國家都不是西方國家

IN 1964, A GROUP OF Chinese officials gave the nations of the world a simple challenge: You say your nuclear weapons are for defense, not for attack, so we’ll sign here to show we are serious, and you do the same.

China signed. The rest of the world turned away.

As the United States relaunches its “Department of War”, it is vital to remember this forgotten story—and the outcome, which still haunts humanity today.

WAR OFFICES
By the 1960s, most countries had changed the names of their military headquarters from “War Office” or “Department of War” to less honest but much nicer-sounding terms such as “Ministry of Defence”. (The United States is now reversing that action, of course.)

When China developed a nuclear bomb in 1964, western nations called for the development of an anti-proliferation principle to stop unsuitable people (in practice, non-Caucasians) getting such weapons.

The Chinese declared that their country, unlike the US, saw nuclear bombs as defensive items to possess but never use.

EXTRAORDINARY LETTER
An argument about defensiveness raged in diplomatic circles – until the Chinese had a stroke of genius, or perhaps just plain honesty. China’s leaders realized that if this was the key point, someone had to take the lead. So they wrote an extraordinary letter to the global community.

Titled “Statement of the Government of the People’s Republic of China” and dated October 16, 1964, it was not the usual lawyer-written, bullet-pointed statement that people have come to expect with international declarations. It was a rather rambling missive that made the point that every nation had the right to defend itself with arms, but nuclear weapons were different.

Despite their lethality, they were a “paper tiger”, which existed for deterrence, NOT for actual use in attacks, the letter said.

And they would surely be phased out as humanity learned to live in peace. Waxing philosophical, the letter argued that nuclear weapons were “created by man” and “certainly will be eliminated by man”.

‘WE’LL GO FIRST’
But the letter also delivered an epoch-making statement. Since every nation with such weapons claimed that they were for defense only, they could all simply declare that they would never be the first to use them. This would be necessary to make the people of the planet safe.

We’ll go first, the Chinese said. The key sentence they wrote was this: “The Chinese Government hereby solemnly declares that China will never at any time and under any circumstances be the first to use nuclear weapons.”

What happened? Everyone acknowledged the crucial logic of the No First Use principle – but looked the other way rather than following suit with matching pledges of their own.

GRIM SILENCE
The grim silence that followed from the United States, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, and France would have been embarrassing—if the military leaders of those countries had the capacity for shame. The silence continued indefinitely.

Since then, the world’s second most populous country has regularly reaffirmed its No First Use position over the past four decades to emphasize the “defense-means-defense” principle.

But almost all other countries pointedly kept their fingers in their ears. China’s reaffirmations of the principle (such as in 2005, 2008, 2009 and 2011) have gone largely unreported in the international media, as too embarrassing for the west.

PUBLIC VERSUS GOVERNMENTS
In the decades following China’s proposal, Russia and the United States of America engaged in an arms race, developing stables of thousands of nuclear warheads, and avoiding the making of those all-important pledges not to use them offensively.

These nations nevertheless present their military nuclear capability using the word “defense” – or at least did, until the United States made a change this week.

An interesting point is that we can see that, in general, China’s No First Use principle has been widely supported by public groups around the world, but has been resisted by governments. There has been just one single exception.

BABY STEPS
India followed suit in 1998, declaring a No First Use policy as it began to grow its own nuclear capabilities. In the late 1990s, there was a period of hope that the western nuclear powers would follow the lead of the two Asian giants (Germany was tempted), but these fizzled out. Western nations talk a good game about moral leadership, but in this case did not follow through.

Some countries (Russia, Pakistan, the United States, the United Kingdom and France) have stated that they will only use their nuclear weapons as a response to an attack or invasion.

However, these statements were not added to the Chinese and Indian declarations, and do not specify nuclear attacks, which is a concern.

Worse still, they give themselves the right to define what might constitute an attack. In other words, they could simply declare that some sort of incursion has occurred—an evidence-free allegation of a cyberattack on a NATO member, for example—and then feel free to “nuke” the people to whom they have assigned blame.

PARTIAL EXCEPTION
There is one more partial exception worth noting. Like the United States, Russia has refused to sign a No First Use principle. However, Moscow did sign a bilateral No First Use contract with China.

This ensures that a large portion of the eastern part of the Eurasian super-continent is more likely to remain free of nuclear-level war.

In China, some military strategists have worried that their country, by making a principled stand that has been largely ignored by the rest of the world, has put itself at a disadvantage.

Others have argued that it is still worthwhile to maintain it. The No First Use policy shows that China’s defense industry is primarily for defense, and reinforces China’s overall strategy of “peaceful rise”.

MORAL VICTORY
There are no guarantees in life; yet with China, India and Russia all having signed up to a No First Use nuclear policy in this region, the average citizen of East Asia may have good reason to feel slightly safer than her or his counterpart elsewhere on the planet, and particularly in Europe.

As for the moral victory, the Chinese writers of the 1964 letter won that battle 61 years ago, but their assumption that the Western powers and Russia would follow suit was too idealistic.

Yet the principle of No First Use, even if most nations of the world did not sign it, has been followed in practice, so far. No nukes have been used.

The nuclear tiger, so far, has indeed turned out to be made of paper, as the Chinese leadership said in 1964. Yet we need to remember: it is a paper which only two countries have signed.

Taiwan US-China experts video with English subtitles: Huawei’s Kirin 9020 is a blast! The Huawei Mate XTs makes a comeback, could gold soar to nearly $5,000? Apple phone lack innovation & new ideas. 華為麒麟9020這波猛的! 華為Mate XTs華麗復仇, 蘋果手機缺乏創新和新思路. 黃金可能飆至近5000美元?
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8S1C2BC/
https://youtu.be/5Mob35Er1ug?si=U1kA-kc7J1bHleQ8
https://rumble.com/v6yl42e-huaweis-kirin-9020-is-a-blast-the-huawei-mate-xts-makes-a-comeback.html

Video with English subtitles: Japan unconditionally surrenders 視頻有英文字幕: 日本無條件投降
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8S1FBL8/
https://youtu.be/6_esG2GKr8I?si=5GcjcIKDYcNDPSjq
https://rumble.com/v6yl0jq-japan-unconditionally-surrendered.html

Two videos with Chinese subtitles: Shawn Brent Christian: Anyone who knows Chinese history knows that China will never allow itself to be bullied by anyone again! China-US competition, Taiwan, South China Sea, Xi Jinping tariff war, trade. 二個視頻有中文字幕: 肖恩.斯坦：了解中国历史的人都知道，中国绝不允许自己再被任何人欺凌！中美竞争台湾南海习近平关税战贸易
Video 1/2
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8S1Atqu/ 🇨🇳
https://youtu.be/MkJYziCDlFc?si=A6Yk29CumE7lUlTu 🇨🇳
https://rumble.com/v6yku60-anyone-who-knows-chinese-history-knows-that-china-will-never-allow-itself-b.html 🇨🇳
Video 2/2
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8S1LhXP/ 🇨🇳
https://youtu.be/OyUfBA7Y3OA?si=VfkXz2LCaBGvcAMK 🇨🇳
https://rumble.com/v6ykupq-anyone-who-knows-chinese-history-knows-that-china-will-never-allow-itself-b.html 🇨🇳

Why did a former Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama kneel down and apologize in Nanjing? This kneeling made him a “traitor” in Japan, but earned him respect from the Chinese people… 一位日本前首相鳩山由紀夫為何在南京下跪道歉？ 這一跪，讓他成為了日本國內的“叛國者”，卻贏得了中國人民的尊重…

In 2013, at the Memorial Hall of the Victims of the Nanjing Massacre, a silver-haired Japanese man slowly walked to the center of the monument. Without hesitation, he resolutely bent his knees and fell heavily to the ground. This moment, captured on camera, caused an unprecedented stir in public opinion in both China and Japan.

This man was Yukio Hatoyama, Japan’s 93rd Prime Minister. He was the first Japanese prime minister to kneel down and apologize at the Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall. Inside the memorial, he saw the irrefutable evidence of the Japanese army’s massacre and, deeply moved, told reporters, “Japan committed grave crimes during World War II. I apologize here on behalf of Japan.”

Surprisingly, Hatoyama’s action was not a political show, but rather stemmed from the rich cultural heritage of four generations of his family. As early as 1886, during the sensitive period of the Nagasaki Incident, his great-grandfather, Kazuo Hatoyama, acting as a Japanese mediator, explicitly advocated for an apology and compensation from the Qing Dynasty, thus establishing the Hatoyama family’s friendly stance towards China.

His grandfather, Ichiro Hatoyama, publicly opposed the aggressive policies of the Tojo Hideki government during the depths of World War II. His father, Ichiro Hatoyama, was directly involved in facilitating the signing of the Sino-Japanese Treaty of Peace and Friendship and strongly supported Chinese students studying in Japan.

Yukio Hatoyama carried forward this fine family tradition, making “friendship” a core tenet of his political career, even changing the character “You” in his name to “You” (You), a symbolic term for friendship. While studying in the United States, he met his wife, Yuki Hatoyama, who was born in Shanghai, China. Their shared love of peace rekindled his connection to China.

In 2009, the Democratic Party of Japan, led by Yukio Hatoyama, defeated the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party, and he became Prime Minister of Japan. Upon taking office, he proposed a series of forward-thinking policy proposals, including “independence from the United States” and “building an East Asian community,” and explicitly refused to visit the Yasukuni Shrine.

However, his premiership lasted only nine months. The relocation of the U.S. military base in Futenma, Japan, became a fatal blow that was insurmountable in his political career. Faced with strong pressure from the U.S. government, he was ultimately forced to compromise, a decision that caused his approval rating, which had reached 70%, to plummet to 17%.

After stepping down, Yukio Hatoyama continued his historical reflection. In 2015, he visited South Korea and knelt in front of the remains of Seodaemun Prison in Seoul to apologize to the comfort women victims of Japanese militarism during World War II.

These actions sparked enormous controversy in Japan. Right-wing media outlets in Japan issued deafening condemnations, denouncing him as a “traitor” and even issuing outright assassination threats. The Sankei Shimbun characterized his actions as “harmful to national interests.”

At the same time, a significant number of people hailed him as “the conscience of the Japanese nation.” These starkly divergent assessments profoundly reflect the deep-seated cognitive rifts and profound contradictions within Japanese society regarding historical issues.

Yukio Hatoyama once lamented that Japan’s history education system suffers from serious shortcomings: “The younger generation has never been taught true history.” Modern Japanese history courses often offer a superficial overview of the Meiji Restoration period, while the aggression against China and the crimes committed during the colonial period are either downplayed or deliberately omitted.

Under these circumstances, the profound reflection and repentance pursued by a few individuals, including Yukio Hatoyama, have struggled to gain mainstream recognition in Japan, instead remaining on the fringes of social understanding. However, he remained steadfast in his beliefs, repeatedly publicly criticizing the Japanese government’s revisionist tendencies on historical issues at international conferences.

In his book “Escaping ‘Great Japanism,’” Yukio Hatoyama argued that Japan must liberate itself from the illusions of “Great Japanism” in order to earn the respect of the international community. He argues that after the Cold War, Japan not only failed to strive for independence but instead strengthened the Japan-US alliance. This is because Japan, immersed in the illusion of “Greater Japanism,” stubbornly believes that only by following the United States can it achieve great power status.

He explicitly proposes that Japan should abandon its quest for hegemony in East Asia, strive for diplomatic autonomy, forgo permanent membership in the UN Security Council, and engage with neighboring countries based on the principles of freedom and coexistence. In his view, “Greater Japanism” is ultimately unworkable. It’s not a question of whether it can be abandoned, but rather that it must be abandoned. Becoming a middle-class nation is Japan’s only viable path.

2013年，南京大屠殺遇難同胞紀念館內，一位銀髮蒼蒼的日本老者緩步走向紀念碑中心，沒有任何猶豫，毅然屈膝，雙膝重重地跪倒在地。 這個瞬間被鏡頭捕捉，在中日兩國的輿論場上激起了前所未有的漣漪。

這位老者就是日本第93任首相鳩山由紀夫。 他是日本首位在南京大屠殺紀念館下跪道歉的首相級人物，在紀念館內，他看到了日軍屠殺時不可動搖的證據，深受震動地對記者說：“日本在第二次世界大戰中犯下的罪很重。 我在這裡代替日本道歉。 ”

令人驚訝的是，鳩山由紀夫的這一行為並非政治作秀，而是源於他家族四代人深厚的人文傳承。 早在1886年，在他曾祖父鳩山和夫的時代，正值“長崎事件”的敏感時期，作為日方調停者的和夫先生便旗幟鮮明地主張對清廷進行道歉和賠償，由此開啟了鳩山家族對華友好的先河。

他的祖父鳩山一郎在第二次世界大戰最殘酷的年代，曾公開反對東條英機政府的侵華政策。 而他的父親鳩山威一郎更是直接參与促成了《中日和平友好條約》的簽署，同時大力支持中國留學生赴日深造。

鳩山由紀夫將家族的這一優良傳統發揚光大，將“友愛”視為自己政治生涯的核心信條，甚至將名字中的“由”字，寓意深遠地改為了“友”。 他在美國留學期間結識了出生於中國上海的妻子鳩山幸，兩人熱愛和平的理想不謀而合，這也讓他再度和中國結緣。

2009年，鳩山由紀夫領導的日本民主黨擊敗了長期執政的自民黨，他本人成為了日本首相。 甫一上任，他就提出了“脫離美國依賴”、“構建東亞共同體”等一系列前瞻性政策構想，並明確拒絕參拜靖國神社。

然而，他的首相生涯僅持續了短短9個月。 駐日美軍普天間基地搬遷問題成為了他政治生涯中難以逾越的致命打擊。 面對美國政府的強硬壓力，他最終被迫妥協，這一決策使得他高達70%的支持率驟然跌至17%。

下台後的鳩山由紀夫並沒有停止他的歷史反思之路。 2015年，他訪問韓國，在首爾的西大門監獄遺址前，向二戰期間遭受日本軍國主義殘害的慰安婦受害者們下跪道歉。

這些行為在日本國內引發了巨大爭議。 日本右翼媒體發出震耳欲聾的譴責，斥責他為“背叛國家”的罪人，甚至有人發出赤裸裸的暗殺威脅。 日本《產經新聞》將其行為定性為“損害國家利益”。

與此同時，卻有相當一部分民眾將他譽為“日本民族的良心”。 這種截然不同的評價，深刻地折射出日本社會在面對歷史問題時所存在的根深蒂固的認知裂痕與深刻矛盾。

鳩山由紀夫曾痛心地指出，日本的歷史教育體系存在着嚴重的疏漏：“年輕一代從未被教會真正的歷史。 ”現代日本的歷史課程往往淺嘗輒止於明治維新時期，而對於侵華戰爭以及殖民統治時期的罪行，則要麼被輕描淡寫，要麼被刻意省略。

在這種情況下，鳩山由紀夫等少數人所進行的深刻反思與懺悔，在日本國內始終難以成為主流，反而一直遊離於社會認知的邊緣地帶。 但他仍然堅持自己的理念，多次在國際會議上公開批評日本政府在歷史問題上的修正主義傾向。

鳩山由紀夫在《擺脫“大日本主義”》一書中指出，日本必須從“大日本主義”的幻想中解放出來，才能贏得國際社會尊重。 他認為冷戰結束后，日本不僅沒有爭取獨立自主，反而強化了日美同盟，就因為日本沉浸在“大日本主義”的幻想中，頑固認為只有追隨美國，才能謀得大國地位。

他明確提出，日本應該放棄爭奪東亞地區霸權，爭取外交自主，放棄入常，以自由、共存的理念和周邊國家交往。 在他看來，“大日本主義”最終是行不通的，不是能不能擺脫的問題，而是必須要擺脫，中等國家是日本唯一可行的道路。

SCMP: ‘Still believe in love’: China tycoon known for bitter divorce remarries ex-classmate 《南華早報》：「依然相信愛情」：因離婚混亂而出名的中國大亨與前同學結婚
https://www.scmp.com/news/people-culture/china-personalities/article/3322479/still-believe-love-china-tycoon-whose-divorce-gripped-public-remarries-ex-classmate?

Anyone want to see the Chinese movie about Nanjing Massacre “Dead to Right” this Sunday Sept 7th? 有人想看 9 月 7 日星期日上映的有關南京大屠殺的中國電影《南京照相館》嗎?

Video with English subtitles: Can you believe it? Taiwan provincial police is protecting the Japanese abusing the comfort women statues in Taiwan! 視頻有英文字幕: 你能相信嗎？台灣省警察竟然包庇日本人虐待台灣慰安婦雕像.
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8Bo7FYH/
https://youtu.be/0X9viTZIl3Y?si=UbsEoU_nQuYub_GW
https://rumble.com/v6ykdce-taiwan-provincial-police-is-protecting-the-japanese-abusing-the-comfort-wom.html

SCMP: A moving story in Shenzhen China. A street snack eatery in Shenzhen refunded 13 yuan (US$2) to uplift two young university graduates new to the city, and the gesture moved many people online. 《南華早報》：發生在中國深圳的一件感人事蹟。深圳一家街頭小吃店為兩位初來乍到的年輕大學畢業生退還了13元（約2美元），這一舉動感動了網路上的許多人.

The two young women, Liu and Song, hailing from Hunan and Jiangxi provinces respectively, travelled to Guangdong in southern China for better job opportunities on August 15.

On August 16, they visited a branch of Shaxian Delicacies, a well-known street snack chain in Longgang District, where they ordered food totalling 13 yuan and discussed their job search plans.

Liu ordered a drink, prompting Song to joke about it being a luxury. They paid via an app, and later that day, Liu was surprised to receive a refund.

Accompanying the refund was a message: “Welcome to Shenzhen. It’s tough, but good luck.”

Recognising this as a thoughtful gesture from the restaurant, Liu shared a screenshot online, expressing how touched they were. Her post garnered 850,000 likes and 13,000 comments.

Shaxian Delicacies boasts around 100,000 authorised branches nationwide. Local media revealed that Huang Huailin and Pan Yushuan opened this specific branch under a franchise just five months ago.

Huang had overheard the women’s conversation and decided to issue the refund. Pan expressed full support for his partner’s decision, noting that while the restaurant was not very profitable, they were happy to assist.

“We all have our lows. We helped them within our capabilities, and hope they find the city a warmer place,” Pan remarked.

Liu later connected with the restaurant owners online to thank them for their kindness. She expressed their intent to pay it forward by helping others in the future and mentioned they would visit the store in person once they settled in.

Fortuitously, the Longgang district government noticed Liu’s post and invited the women to stay at its Youth Community, a government-sponsored support centre providing new graduates with free accommodation for up to 15 days, along with resume and interview assistance.

Many users in the comments section offered advice on navigating life in Shenzhen. Some even visited the eatery to order the 13-yuan meal – dubbed the “tough meal” – in support of Huang and Pan’s initiative.

“This is why I use social media – to find heartwarming moments,” one commenter shared.

Another noted: “The owners have also been on their own journeys for many years.”

A third remarked: “Shenzhen is such an inclusive city. I love it.”

Video with English subtitles: Gaza movie ‘The Voice of Hind Rajab’, the death of a Gaza girl devastates Venice Film Festival audiences 視頻有英文字幕: 加薩電影, 加薩女孩之死震撼威尼斯電影節觀眾
https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8BoyWdv/
https://youtube.com/shorts/F-WVp6YqBBg?si=vPyg965OlavFs-ma
https://rumble.com/v6ykap4-gaza-movie-the-voice-of-hind-rajab-the-death-of-a-gaza-girl.html