China on Monday put forth a 10-point proposal to promote sound
development for disarmament and arms control at the 2003 Session of
United Nations Disarmament Commission.
In
an address to the session, head of Chinese delegation Hu Xiaodi
said some recent developments "have been particularly worrisome,"
warning that the multilateral disarmament and arms control process
is now facing a severe test.
The role of nuclear weapons in certain country's national strategy
has not been drastically reduced, the development of missile
defense systems and outer-space weapons have negative effects on
global strategic stability, and the deterioration of international
security environment increases the risks of nuclear proliferation,
Hu said.
Hu
stressed the need to create a favorable international security
environment through a new security concept based on mutual trust,
mutual benefit, equality and cooperation to establish common
security for all countries.
He
also put forth a 10-point proposal to promote sound development
disarmament and arms control, which includes:
--
Countries should pursue a new security concept based on mutual
trust, mutual benefit, equality and cooperation and work for a just
and equitable new international political and economic order, to
ensure common security for all;
--
Countries should refrain from introducing weapons into
outerspace;
--
Nuclear disarmament measures, including interim ones, should be
based on the principles of global strategic and undiminished
security for all;
--
The nuclear-weapon states possessing the largest nuclear arsenals
should take the lead in reducing their respective nuclear arsenals
drastically and in a legally binding form, and the nuclear weapons
reduced should be destroyed;
--
The reduction of nuclear weapons should be effectively verifiable,
irreversible and in a legally binding manner;
--
All nuclear-weapon states should undertake not to be the first to
use nuclear weapons and not to use or threaten to use nuclear
weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapons-free
zones at any time or under any circumstances;
--
Nuclear-weapon states should withdraw all the nuclear weapons they
have deployed abroad back into their own territories;
--
Countries that have not signed and ratified the Comprehensive
Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty should do so as soon as possible;
--
The Conference on Disarmament in Geneva should reach a work program
at an early date to start the substantive work on such issues as
nuclear disarmament, banning production of materials used for
making nuclear weapons and preventing arms race in outer space;
--
These and other measures should lead to the negotiation and
conclusion of a treaty on the complete prohibition and destruction
of nuclear weapons.
(Xinhua News Agency April 1, 2003)