China to continue contributing to global nuclear governance: vice FM

BEIJING - China will continue to contribute its wisdom and proposals to global nuclear governance, and is ready to carry out cooperation with all peace-loving countries, Chinese vice Foreign Minister Ma Zhaoxu said on Monday.

Ma made the remarks during an interview after the leaders of the five Nuclear-Weapon States, namely China, France, Russia, Britain and the United States on Monday issued a joint statement on preventing nuclear war and avoiding arms races.

Ma told the media the significance of the joint statement, China's efforts and China's proposition on strengthening the global governance in the nuclear field.

Ma said that by issuing the joint statement, the five Nuclear-Weapon States stressed that a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought and reiterated that none of the nuclear weapons are targeted at each other or at any other State.

This is the first time for leaders of the five Nuclear-Weapon States to issue such a joint statement, which has demonstrated the political will of the five states to prevent nuclear wars, and given their common voice of maintaining global strategic stability and reducing the risk of nuclear conflicts, he added.

Noting that the world is undergoing changes unseen in a century and the impact of COVID-19, Ma said the international strategic security field faces many major challenges.

The joint statement is conducive to enhancing mutual trust, said Ma, adding that replacing competition among major countries with coordination and cooperation is of positive significance to the building of major-country relations featuring overall stability and balanced development.

China has always been advocating the idea that "a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought," and has been playing a leading role in promoting the five countries to take joint actions. Thanks to China's efforts, the content of "reaffirming that none of our nuclear weapons are targeted at each other or at any other State" is included in the joint statement, according to Ma.

Noting that the five Nuclear-Weapon states are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council as well as legally recognized nuclear-weapon states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), Ma said they bear a common responsibility to prevent nuclear war and safeguard world peace.

"The five countries should take the joint statement as a new starting point to enhance mutual trust, strengthen coordination, and play a positive role in building a world with lasting peace and common security," he said.

China has always maintained a nuclear strategy that is defensive in nature, pursued a policy of no-first-use of nuclear weapons, and maintained its nuclear force at the minimum level required for safeguarding national security. "This in itself is an important contribution to global strategic stability," he said.