China underlines importance of strengthening authority of NPT
( 2002-04-09 10:56 ) (8 )

China said on Monday that "It is a firm and sacred aspiration long cherished by the international community and a target identified in the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to eliminate all nuclear weapons," so "it is imperative to maintain and strengthen the universality, authority and vitality" of the treaty.

The statement came as Hu Xiaodi, head of the Chinese delegation to the first session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2005 NPT Review Conference, which opened here on Monday morning.

"It is a firm and sacred aspiration long cherished by the international community and a target identified in the Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to eliminate all nuclear weapons, realize a world free of nuclear weapons and promote security, stability and development," said Hu, who is the Chinese ambassador on disarmament.

To achieve the target, "it is imperative to maintain and strengthen the universality, authority and vitality of the NPT," he said.

The NPT, which entered into force in 1970 and extended indefinitely in 1990, requires that review conference be held every five year. The treaty, which has a total of 187 State parties, is regarded as the cornerstone of the global nuclear nonproliferation regime.

Not only the treaty itself but also factors beyond it are relevant, he said.

First, an international environment of stability, cooperation and mutual trust must be created, he said.

"It is a prerequisite for all countries to have a sense of security, thus removing their motivation behind acquiring and having in their control nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction," he said.

The progress made in nuclear disarmament as a result of the relatively relaxed post-Cold War international relations is a testimony to all this, he said. "At present, it is most important to give up the unilateralist pursuit of absolute security."

"Acts that my endanger international peace and security and do harm to trust among countries must be avoided," he said.

Secondly, the integrity of the international disarmament and arms control legal regime should be maintained, he said.

In the past decades, the international treaties that have been concluded on arms control and disarmament have become a mutually complementary integrity that functions as a whole, he said.

"The breaching or weakening of any one treaty in the regime will affect the states parties' confidence in the whole treaty regime," he said.

"The NPT, as a treaty of principle of the regime, has its vitality closely related to other arms control treaties dealing with specific subjects," he said. "If such treaties were breached, the general targets of nuclear disarmament and nuclear nonproliferation established by the NPT would be beyond reach."

Thirdly, countries must faithfully implement their NPT obligations and the documents from NPT Review Conferences, he said. "As an international arms control treaty with the greatest universality and the best law-making effect, the NPT's influence extends far beyond its States parties."

"In a sense, the nuclear-weapon States parties, the non-nuclear weapon States parties and even States that are not parties to the treaty are obliged to abide by the spirit," he said.