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Statement by the Delegation of China on the
Preservation of and Compliance with the ABM Treaty
October
2001
Mr. Chairman,
This year marks the third time for the United Nations General Assembly to
consider the item “preservation of and compliance with the Treaty on the
Limitation of Anti-Ballistic Missile Systems (hereinafter referred to as the ABM
Treaty)”. The past two sessions of the UNGA adopted this resolution with an
overwhelming majority. This has fully demonstrated the support of the
international community for the preservation of the ABM Treaty, and their
opposition to the development of missile defense systems, because they do not
want to see the loss of the hard-won achievements the international community
has made over the years in the field of disarmament, arms control and
nonproliferation.
Like the rest of the international community, China is of the view that
preserving the integrity and effectiveness of the ABM Treaty is of great
importance to the maintenance of world peace and security. A decade has passed
since the end of the Cold War and the international situation has changed
significantly. However, the ABM Treaty still remains as the cornerstone of
global strategic balance and stability. The treaties on the reduction of nuclear
weapons and, in deed, the entire international legal system on disarmament and
arms control, of which the ABM Treaty constitutes a basis, have not lost their
relevance. The Chinese delegation believes that discarding the ABM Treaty and
developing missile defense systems will undermine global strategic balance and
stability, and will be detrimental to world peace and security and the trust
among nations, and will have far-reaching negative effects on the international
disarmament and arms control process. Such a result will not be in anybody’s
interest.
It is our view that missile proliferation, a concern that the missile defense
program is said to be based upon, can best be solved through political and
diplomatic means on the basis of joint efforts by the international community
and within the framework of the existing disarmament and arms control treaties.
Mr. Chairman,
Since the end of the Cold War, the world has been moving towards
multi-polarization. We are now entering an era of globalization. Under the new
situation of diversified security threats, global security is becoming
increasingly inseparable. Each country is entitled to take necessary measures to
maintain its own security. Meanwhile, we must also realize that, in today’s
world, the security of all countries is interrelated. One country’s insecurity
cannot be the security of another country. And the security of one country
cannot be based on the insecurity of others. It has been borne out by both
history and reality that a country, no matter how strong it is, will not be able
to bring security to itself by practicing unilateralism against the cooperative
spirit of the times. We hope that the country concerned will heed the appeal of
the international community and come to a sensible decision in favor of
preserving the ABM Treaty, and desist from its missile defense program.
Based upon the above position and considerations, China has decided to
co-sponsor once again the draft resolution on the preservation of and compliance
with the ABM Treaty tabled by the Russian Federation. We appeal to all member
states for their support for this resolution, and for their continued efforts to
ensure the preservation of and compliance with the ABM Treaty, and smooth
progress of the international disarmament process in a correct direction.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
This
material is produced independently for NTI by the James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of
International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the
opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or
its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2007 by
MIIS.
