Chinese envoy warns of arms proliferation, heightened tensions

As the world is encountering changes unseen in a century and the international security situation has become increasingly complicated and unsettling, a Chinese envoy warned international arms control and disarmament has come to a crucial crossroads with a series of significant challenges.

Fu Cong, head of the Department of Arms Control of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, made the remarks at a plenary meeting of the First Committee of the UN General Assembly on Friday at the UN headquarters in New York.

Fu said the United States, in a desperate attempt to gain security supremacy over others, continuously lowers the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons, turning outer space and cyberspace into new battlegrounds. "Such acts have severely undermined global strategic stability and increased the risk of a nuclear war."

"Withdrawalism" by the United States is rampant, he said. As the US scrapped the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, and the future of New START, the nuclear arms reduction treaty between the US and Russia, remains uncertain, "the international security situation is plagued with unprecedented uncertainties," he said.

He condemned breaches of commitments and abuses of maximum pressure by the United States which have escalated the Iran nuclear issue, and pushed the security situation in the Middle East to a breaking point.

The effects of technological development are increasingly prominent. Military application of new and advanced technologies is having a profound impact on global security, giving rise to ethical and legal concerns, he said.

Fu reiterated China will continue firmly upholding multilateralism and further developing the multilateral arms control system.

Fu called on all states to firmly commit to maintaining the authority and effectiveness of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and strengthening the implementation mechanism of the Chemical Weapons Convention.

"China strongly urges the US to earnestly fulfill its treaty obligations and destroy its chemical weapons stocks as soon as possible," he said.

He said China will keep making efforts to maintain global strategic stability, and carry forward nuclear disarmament step by step.

"China deeply regrets US withdrawal from the INF Treaty. China firmly opposes US attempts to deploy intermediate-range missiles in the Asia-Pacific region," Fu added.

Fu called on countries to abandon the Cold War mentality, jointly maintain strategic balance and stability and reduce the risk of nuclear war.

"All nuclear weapon states should pledge no first use of nuclear weapons, take measures to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in their national security policies and provide effective security assurances to non-nuclear-weapon states," he said.

Fu stressed the need to resolve proliferation issues through political and diplomatic means.

"Given the complexities of proliferation-related issues, they can only be properly resolved through dialogue and cooperation," he said. "Attempts to impose one's demands on others while ignoring others' legitimate concerns by means of unilateralism and maximum pressure will only make issues more complicated and intractable, which serves no state's interests."

He asked for efforts to effectively advance governance in strategic new frontiers for the purpose of peaceful development.

"China has always been firmly opposed to the weaponization and arms race in outer space. It is deeply concerned about attempts by the United States to dominate outer space," he said.

As this year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, and next year will be the 75th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, "China and the world's development are standing at a new starting point," Fu said.

China will continue to follow the path of peaceful development, strive for the sound development of the international arms control process, play a responsible role in global security governance, and make new contributions to maintaining international and regional peace and security and building a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.